The Rest of Their Lives
by kurisu313
Summary: Welcome to my new story, which follows on where Iron Body and Shining Soul left off, which may explain a few things, like Gajeel's new powers. We're going into the future of Gajeel and Levy's relationship which means marriage, pregnancy, kids, new jobs and more! Mostly cute and cuddly, but expect a bit of emotional turmoil along the way.
1. New Beginnings

**Welcome to my new story, which follows on where Iron Body and Shining Soul left off, which may explain a few things, like Gajeel's new powers. We're going into the future of Gajeel and Levy's relationship which means marriage, pregnancy, kids, new jobs and more! Mostly cute and cuddly, but expect a bit of emotional turmoil along the way.**

**Inspired by Quierta-riddler's story 'Laugh', so check that out.**

**===CHAPTER 1===**

**New Beginnings**

**Gajeel is 23 and Levy is 19**

"Ahhh, call it off! I'm gonna die here!"

"Gajeel, you're fine," Natsu deadpanned.

"No, I'm panicking! It feels like my stomach's gonna explode! Oh no, I'm spiralling!" Gajeel stopped as Natsu span him around and pelted him across the face.

"Better?"

"Much, thanks."

"Just think, in an hour or so, you'll be Mr and Mrs Redfox!" Lily said, walking over. They were getting Gajeel ready in the guild hall. Just outside, Mirajane was overseeing the strict setting up of the wedding ceremony itself.

It had quickly been ascertained that a suit was not going to work for Gajeel. Neither was anything with sleeves, since he had a habit of ripping them off to reveal his muscles. So in the end they'd settled for ceremonial robes (black, of course) that allowed him to appear fairly formal while still keeping his trademark badassery. Strangely, Levy had been fully supportive of it. After all, she clearly found that attractive.

"Mrs Redfox!? Oh god, I'm not good enough for her, she needs someone better!"

"Gajeel…"

"How about Flyboy and Sprouthead? They've always wanted her!"

"Gajeel…"

"She's so small! What if I break her again!?"

"Gajeel!" Lily and Natsu smacked him into the ground with tremendous force.

"Thanks," he mumbled through the floorboards.

"You're just having pre-wedding jitters," Natsu clarified, crouching near Gajeel's prone body. He held up the golden ring on his hand. "I know I had them! But nothing really changed. Lucy was still Lucy after all."

"What about when ya have kids, though?" Gajeel moped.

"Don't ask me! I'm sure things change then, but you're okay for now Metalhead!"

"My kid will be stronger than yers!" Gajeel yelled, enjoying the familiar mechanic with Natsu as a way to force away his fears.

"Like hell!" Natsu shouted back.

"Really," Lily chastised, "do you think Levy is behaving like this?"

* * *

"I can't let him see me like this!" Levy wailed in front of the mirror.

"Levy-chan, you look gorgeous!" Lucy said comfortingly.

"No,I can't fill this dress out at all! Lu-chan, you wear it instead!"

"How does that work exactly?" Lucy deadpanned. "You're the bride! Just calm down, you know that Gajeel loves the way you look!" Lucy never understood her friend's self-deprecation. She wore the sleek wedding dress well as it clung to her delicate curves, cut across her bust. And she _loved _the fact that she had a white headband to match it!

"It's not fair! Remember when you got married? You were practically falling out of your dress!"

"I was not!" Lucy huffed, not quite lying. "Levy-chan, there's more to being beautiful than a large chest!"

"Says the double d."

"Levy-chan! Stop procrastinating! You're just nervous for your big day! That's understandable!"

"I'm nervous, Lu-chan…," Levy mumbled.

"Of course you are," Lucy said kindly. "That's completely natural. But you love him, right?"

Levy smiled. "Absolutely."

"Then nothing else matters."

* * *

The wedding was beautiful, Gajeel thought from the head of the procession. Sunlight graced his day, illuminating the rows of seats drawn before the makeshift altar. Much better than a stuffy church in his opinion. Gajeel did not get on well with churches.

Lily stood at his feet in a little tux. He, of course, was the best man. No one else could possibly be it for Gajeel. The seats were primarily filled with the members of Fairy Tail, but there were a few others there, notably from Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus, along with a couple of guys from Red Chimera that Gajeel didn't like. But hey, they were friends of Levy.

And even more notably, there was another guest who was the main reason that the wedding was being held outside. Metalicana did not fit well in buildings. He watched with curiosity at the human custom. For a dragon, the bond was everything. This seemed like a pointless formality to him, but he was proud to see the man his adopted son had become.

The guests suddenly stood and Gajeel turned to look at the source. His breath caught in his throat.

Walking alongside Makarov was Levy, radiant in her wedding dress.

She was so beautiful that it hurt.

"You're a lucky man," Lily commented quietly.

"Shaddup, damn cat," Gajeel replied curtly, mostly because he didn't want anything distracting him from the vision walking slowly down the aisle. Lily smiled knowingly. It wasn't fair, Gajeel thought. How could a big, uneducated brute like him possibly have this beautiful, smart, tiny, perfect woman?

As Guild Master, one of Makarov's happier roles was to give away the female members of his guild, since most were orphans. And Levy had the added benefit of being one of the few people short enough to hold his hand as they went down the aisle.

"I'm so very proud of the both of you," he said softly. Levy nodded, a large stupid grin over her face, but she was likewise fixated on the man at the altar. In many ways, Gajeel could be considered a poor prospect for a husband, but Levy saw past that. Behind those piercings was a noble warrior, silly and soft in his own particular ways. Trying to make him admit that he cared about anyone was an ordeal, but to hurt one of them would provoke the wrath of Hades itself.

At last, Levy stood opposite Gajeel at the altar, both of them grinning like maniacs. It was hard to be quiet with such happiness in their hearts. The priest began the ceremony, blathering on about stuff that Gajeel never really picked up on.

"I believe that you two have prepared your own vows. Mr Redfox, if you may?"

"Um, yeah, right," he said falteringly, trying to recall what he was supposed to say. Damn cat had vetoed all of his short jokes. He looked into Levy's eyes, and it seemed to come easier. "Before I met ya, I was nothing but a violent brute. All I ever did was bring people pain." Tears were in his eyes at the memory, his hands clutching hers. "But ya made me a better person. Ya made me see the strength inside people as well as the strength without. Ya are the single best thing that has ever happened to me. I promise to never hurt ya, and to protect ya from the entire universe. I promise to love ya no matter what, and I'll care for ya until death parts us."

"Gajeel, I'm not big or strong, but when I'm with you, you give me the confidence to take on the whole world. You lift me up, both in heart and body, and carry me when I'm too weak to go on by myself." She sniffled, desperately trying to hang on for the moment. "I can't protect you from the world, but I can be your light, to keep the darkness away. You made me believe that there is good inside everyone, and I want to be with you until death parts us."

"The rings?" The priest asked. Lily floated up, opening a box with two simple gold bands inside, one considerably larger than the other. Gajeel took them, slipping the smaller one onto Levy's finger.

"Do you, Gajeel Redfox, take Levy McGarden to be your lawful wedded wife?"

"I do." Levy smiled at the brilliant grin over Gajeel's face and slipped the other ring onto his hand.

"Do you, Levy McGarden, take Gajeel Redfox to be your lawful wedded husband?"

"I do!" She practically shouted the words, grinning like a madwoman with her joy.

"Then I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"Ya don't have ta tell me twice!" Gajeel exclaimed, lifting her clean off of the ground as the congregation erupted into cheers. Who would have thought it all those years ago when Gajeel had attacked Levy in a dark alley? The difference in that man now was like the difference between night and day. And the association had changed Levy too, making her much stronger than before.

"To the reception!" Cana shouted bawdily. Alcohol flowed profusely as the guild celebrated. There was much cheering, singing and dancing. Levy had agreed not to touch the alcohol if Gajeel didn't serenade them with a guitar solo. Both would be rather embarrassing events. The deal was kept…in the sense that Levy drunkenly danced to Gajeel's playing. When drunk, Levy appeared to love everything, even the horrible wailing of Gajeel's musical skills. About a dozen guild members had cam-lacrymas recording the event for posterity, including Lily.

"This'll come in handy for when they're using me as a babysitting service," he noted wryly.

* * *

The next morning was not a particularly pleasant start to the rest of Levy's life as she clutched her aching head with a tiny squeal. She heard a deep chuckle from behind her and let Gajeel's arms slip around her, hugging her tiny body against him.

"How much?" Levy asked.

"Two cups of sake," he said with obvious mirth.

"I'm getting better, then. It used to be that sitting next to Cana would make me drunk!"

"Tell me ya remember the wedding at least?"

"Oh yes," Levy replied, rolling over to snuggle against his chest. "That part's very clear. What is less clear is why there was the sound of a dying cat later on!"

"Lily started it!" Gajeel protested.

"No…I meant your guitar…never mind," Levy sighed.

"No regrets?"

Levy looked up, resting a delicate hand on his cheek. "None whatsoever."

"So, yer mine now…does that mean that I can do anything I like to ya?" He asked, drawing his face closer.

"Oh? Did you have anything in mind?" Levy asked, a dirty chuckle escaping her lips before Gajeel's came down on them in a deep kiss. She giggled as Gajeel began exploring her more tender areas.

"I'm sure I can think of something!"

* * *

**Six weeks later**

Levy came out of the bathroom holding the pregnancy test aloft. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Damn my amazing, manly virility!" Gajeel wailed, hands on his head. About two seconds later, the shock had passed and the startling realisation sank in. "I'm gonna be a daddy?" He whispered. Levy's head rested on his chest as her arms went around him.

"And I'm gonna be a mummy! We're going to have our own family!"

"I…I can't, I don't know how to…what if I hurt him..her…our kid?" Gajeel stammered, red-faced.

"You've got a few months to learn!" She took his hands in hers. "This is just the start of a new adventure! Let's take it together!"

* * *

**I hope you liked it!**


	2. Of Thumbtacks and Hormones

**===Chapter 2===**

**Of Thumbtacks and Hormones**

Levy normally spent most of the waking moments of her life reading. She didn't know what her hormones were doing to her exactly, but she was now quite content to sit in her armchair, her hands slipped under her small bump and burble meaningless nothings to her unborn son. For hours on end.

For a son he was indeed. A visit to Porylusica had identified the gender of their baby. No names had been forthcoming so far, but she was only three months along. Plenty of time to decide yet. Maybe something old fashioned like Albert or John? She couldn't see Gajeel agreeing to that.

She frowned slightly. Gajeel had become something of an absentee father of late, taking multiple missions at a time in order to stockpile cash for their child. In recent times, a large amount of their money had been sunk into buying this house. It was a fantastic investment though, meaning they were set up well for the future. They'd always have a roof over their heads, but a bit of food on the table never hurt.

Levy was a bit bored, but she refused to do any missions. Even the simplest had an awful habit of going awry, and she would not put her son in any danger. She giggled. The very idea gave Gajeel a cold sweat. He was determined to be super-dad, bread winner extraordinaire and caring husband all rolled into one. She hoped that he wasn't going to push himself too hard.

Then again, she thought glumly, he had literally a body of iron. She wasn't even sure if he had an upper limit to hit. She, on the other hand was constantly drained and tired. It wasn't the first time in the life that she cursed her diminutive stature, and it wouldn't be the last. She was not looking forward to the day when this child was taller than her! She knew that Gajeel was planning a raft of jokes for that day!

The door practically crashed open as Gajeel stumbled in under a weight of bags, followed by a similarly burdened Lily.

"What's all that?" Levy asked happily, legs swinging back and forth.

"This is all baby stuff!" Gajeel stated proudly. Levy's gaze swung warily to Lily.

"Don't worry, I reeled him in," the Exceed assured her. "We got a crib and paints for the babies' room."

"Oh great!" Levy's expression fell. "It's not an iron crib and black paint is it?"

"Wood and blue," Gajeel spat, annoyed. Lily wouldn't let him have any fun. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Ah! I had an idea for a name!"

"Really? What is it?"

"Ahem. Takamura!" He declared proudly.

Levy frowned. It wasn't a bad name, but why had he chosen it? Think Levy…

"Ah! You want to shorten it to Tacks, don't you?" Gajeel started, amazed. "You've picked the nickname first, and then chose the name based on it! And you chose tacks, something that's small and metal, which are your spheres of interest…wait a minute! You were at a DIY store! You literally saw some tacks and took the name from it!"

"Holy crap, yer smart…," Gajeel noted.

"It's why you love me!" She replied with a big grin.

"Nope!" Gajeel said teasingly, setting the bags down and kneeling next to the chair to tussle her hair. "I love ya because yer the most teeny-tiny thing in the whole world!"

"Not for much longer, I think!" She said happily, gazing at her extended tummy. "I'll be big soon!"

"That'd make ya normal sized, not big," Gajeel sardonically corrected her. His hand gently went to that stomach, and Levy smiled to watch that childlike expression on his face. She knew that this was incredibly alien and mystifying to him. The brute who brought only pain was crafting a new life. His expression shifted. "I'm gonna go and make ya dinner. Gotta make sure that little Tacks grows up big and strong!"

"Oh? Have we decided that that's his name?" Levy asked.

"Well, I'll make food, ya decide!" Levy could remember the clumsy man who couldn't boil rice. It was amazing how much he'd enjoyed learning to cook. And once she'd managed to hammer home that she couldn't digest iron (at least not like him), he was actually pretty good at it.

Lily hopped up onto the arm of the chair. "Hey, I wanted to ask you, are you aware of the training Gajeel's being doing lately?"

"Huh? No!" Levy exclaimed. Did he need to get any stronger? Was he planning to take some giant quest?

"He's scared, Levy. He's scared of hurting his child. He's been practicing restraining his power. After all, he has the strength to smash through walls and crush metal. So, he's been working with things like eggs, improving his fine motor control."

"W…what!?" Levy yelped, tears forming in her eyes. Oh…damn him! Why couldn't he just let the past go? She'd completely forgiven him for that! He was still hanging on to his greatest fear…of hurting his loved ones again. It was stupid! He could hold her perfectly gently!

"Well, I wanted to let you know, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's something that gives him a goal, drives him to be a better man."

"I don't want my husband to be in pain!" Levy snapped - an unusual reaction for Lily to suffer. However, he merely smiled.

"You do know Gajeel, right? Pain is his salve, it gives him strength. It is the very reason why he's so strong."

"Go away," Levy said curtly. Lily knew better than to argue with a pregnant woman and leapt down, saying that he'd put the crib together now, rather than let Gajeel display his DIY skills. About half an hour later, Gajeel emerged from the kitchen, handing a fork and a plate of something that smelled delicious to Levy. The baby was making her ravenous and it swiftly went down, although still slower than Gajeel.

"Hey, Gajeel…"

"Everything alright, Shorty?"

"Um…how can I put this…you're worried about our kid, right?"

Gajeel was slient, studying her with his eyes. The question was pretty vague and open ended, but he suspected that he knew what she was driving at. He'd have to have Lily spayed.

"I'm really strong."

"I know that."

"Babies are really vulnerable."

"That's true."

Gajeel pursed his lips, clearly annoyed by her demeanour. "Ya know that I can't do _that _again."

"And you won't, it'll be fine."

"Ya don't know that."

"I do."

"What if I slip up? Drop him, or squeeze a bit too hard?"

"Accidents happen. It's good for babies to get a few bumps and bruises!"

In any other moment, Gajeel might have become enraged, but there was no way he'd become angry with Levy while pregnant with his kid. He turned away, solemn. "I can't bear to hurt my loved ones again. It'll break me."

"Gajeel, in the creation of this baby, you gave me more than a couple of bruises!"

"That's different! Yer a grown-up, ya can look after yerself."

"Gajeel…I trust that you'll do fine," Levy said reassuringly.

Gajeel looked up at that. "Ya trust me?"

"Of course I do! You're gonna be a great dad!"

"I'm going to be a great dad?" He was staring off into the middle distance, sampling the words like some kind of fine wine. They didn't seem like they should apply to him. While he was not getting any sex, he kinda hoped the baby would just stay inside her. That was easy. The scary part was when he came out. No, Gajeel hoped that he'd just take all of the time in the world.

* * *

**6 months later**

"Get this thing out of me!" Levy screamed. Gajeel screamed in unison as she crushed his hand in her tiny grip. Gajeel cursed the entire universe: for some reason comedic violence broke the laws of physics. His small wife could easily harm him in her hormone induced rages. It was the same way with her handbag.

"We can't! Not until yer water breaks…," Gajeel mumbled. He was kneeling next to Levy in an armchair. She looked vaguely like she'd swallowed a beachball. Gajeel had mistakenly made that comparison once and been put through three walls. And poor Levy…she was so little that her weight had gone up by nearly fifty percent. She was constantly tired and exhausted, which combined with her hormones made her blindingly angry.

"Oh? Suddenly an expert, are we? Tell me, how long is a pregnancy?"

"N..nine months," Gajeel replied sullenly, knowing where she was going.

"And how long has it been?"

"Nine months and week," he filled in.

"Stop kicking!" She screamed at her stomach suddenly. "If you want out, then get out! This is your fault Gajeel! You and your dragon genes!"

"It's not in my genes…it's just a long pregnancy. He'll come out when he's ready," Gajeel said as soothingly as he could, guiltily flashing back to his earlier wish for little Tacks to take his sweet time. Levy's forehead cracked against his nose and he howled with pain.

"You! This damn baby is so energetic! That doesn't come from me!" Gajeel vaguely recalled the sunny little thing that bounced happily around the guild but wisely chose not to mention it. She looked at her chest and scowled again. "And aren't your breasts supposed to become bigger? Is this all I've got? How is that fair?"

"It won't be much longer," he soothed.

"How do you know? How can you possibly – I think my water just broke!"

"I don't think – wait, what!?" His wide eyes slowly slid down to the wet patch at Levy's crotch. Abject fear lent him wings, running to grab the bag of birthing things they had ready at all times. Returning to Levy he scooped her up bridal style and took off towards the hospital as fast as his legs could go. Which was pretty goddamn fast when you factored in two reinforcement spells and dragon force.

_Oh god oh god, it's happening! I'm about to be a dad!_

* * *

**It is my plan for Gajeel and Levy to have two kids. I wanna get on with having the kid first, so I'm skipping this pregnancy. The second might be more elaborated on, but I want to have at least one kid around to get on with the family dynamics.**

**Natsu and Lucy are having a girl, I need name suggestions!**


	3. His Tiny Family

**Chapter 3**

**His Tiny Family**

Gajeel was fairly confident that his heart was going to explode. He paced back and forth before the maternity ward like a madman. He just couldn't sit still. He could think of all of the horror stories: of Levy or the baby dying during labour. Maybe there'd be a problem. Oh sweet merciful Mavis, would time just advance already?

"Excuse me." Gajeel leapt back a full three metres. A perplexed nurse looked at him. "You can come in now."

Gajeel walked slowly into the room. It felt like there was absolute silence there as he looked at the bed containing his wife, a tiny bundle in her arms. She didn't look up; her gaze was fixed in place on the newborn baby. He walked over to them, not quite sure if he was remembering to breathe.

He was so small.

So very, very small.

Gajeel never quite put words to that moment, but he fell instantly in love. He was absolutely perfect as he gurgled happily away, staring back up at his mother's face. He already had a little tuft of black hair on his head. Baby blue eyes noticed the man approaching and he made another little gurgle.

"I think he'd like to meet you," Levy said quietly, almost as if she was afraid that talking too loudly would break the moment. Gajeel reached down, slowly scooping up his little child. He carefully minded the head, remembering everything he'd learned over the last nine months.

He stood there holding Tacks as he regarded his father with wide innocent eyes. The entire world seemed to vanish away completely. All that existed was him and his baby.

"Gajeel, you're crying," Levy said happily.

A vague protest that he just had something in his eyes died on his lips. "I love him," Gajeel croaked. "I…I can't believe how much, but I absolutely love him. He's perfect. Completely perfect."

"I told you that you'd be a great dad!" Levy beamed.

"But…I haven't done anything yet!"

"No, what you just said is more than enough."

"Excuse me, Mr Redfox?" The midwife said, approaching cautiously. Little Tacks was taken away for routine checks and so that Levy could get some rest. In fact, she was already asleep. Gajeel looked from the baby as he was taken away to the sleeping face of his wife. He couldn't help it and tears flowed like waterfalls. His family was tiny and it was perfect.

* * *

"Come on!" Levy urged, distraught. She hugged Tacks to her chest, jiggling him up and down slightly. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Maybe…," Gajeel started from beside the bed.

"Say it and die!" Levy retorted. She knew how _little _she was, but come on! They'd grown a little during pregnancy, hadn't they? Was she so goddamn flat that her child couldn't recognize them as breasts?

"They said that some kids take longer to latch than others," Gajeel said reassuringly.

"Shut up!" She squealed, tears in her eyes.

"Hey hey, what'cha crying for?" Gajeel asked gently.

"I'm not good enough for my child!" She sobbed. Gajeel's eyes widened as he recognized the pain in those words. That wasn't fair at all! He was the clumsy, stupid brute, why was she the one suffering?

"Shrimp, yer the best mum in the whole world! And if he's got my genetics in him, he'll love yer boobs!"

Levy sniffled, making a tiny smile at the joke. As if responding to her calming down, Tacks latched on and began to drink greedily. The small smile spread across Levy's face. She felt Gajeel's arm slip around behind her head to hold her shoulder.

"There, see? Yer a great mum."

"Thank you," she whispered.

* * *

"What, we're not ready yet!" Gajeel wailed, hands on his head.

"Mr Redfox, it has been two days," the nurse explained patiently. "You will have to take your child home!"

"But what if he does this or that?" He asked frantically, panicking.

"You have been given the number of a support line, yes?"

"Yes…"

"Then go home!"

* * *

"Lily!" Gajeel called as he opened the front door. He was burdened with their entire luggage. Levy had the responsibility of only a single thing: the little baby cradled in her arms. Lily instantly emerged, hurrying down the stairs. He floated on wings right past Gajeel to hover before Tacks. The baby gurgled and reached for the funny kitty.

"Hey little guy!" Lily chuckled. "You're so cute! Take right after your dad!"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Gajeel snapped as Levy giggled. Gajeel looked around uncertainly. "So now what do we do?"

Levy smiled mischievously. "Now we feed, clothe and shelter him for eighteen years."

"Oh."

* * *

"Here comes the dragon, swooping in to destroy the village!" Gajeel urged as he brought the little spoon full of food down to Tack's mouth. He giggled and ate it. He certainly was a happy little baby, Gajeel thought. He must get that from his mother. He also didn't eat the spoon, a trait he must have got from his mother as well.

"I promise I'll never let anyone hurt ya," he whispered quietly. The baby smiled at the sound of the words, burbling happily away in the language of infants. Tacks had beautiful eyes, a pure mix of his parents. They were slightly rounded and a deep sunset red.

"It's not fair," Levy moped, hugging her chest. "Now that he's been weaned, I've returned to normal."

"Yay!" Gajeel said. "That means that they're mine again! Ya've had yer turn, Tacks!"

Tacks suddenly started crying, apropos of nothing.

"I'm sorry!" Gajeel cried. "Ya can still use 'em, look!" He thrust the baby at Levy's chest, who stared at him as if he were a moron.

"His diaper…," she implored.

"Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Gajeel said, dropping the baby in her arms and fleeing.

"Gajeel!"

* * *

"Can you say dada?" Gajeel asked.

"Can you say mama?" Levy asked.

Little Tacks sat on the floor before his two parents, both vying for his attention. The bigger one was dangling his fingers like keys, the ends having become elongated and metallic. Tacks loved how he did that. The small one had made the word 'mama' with her magic and was pointing at it.

"Guh….guh….BABA!" Tacks shrieked.

"Ya heard him, he said dada!" Gajeel roared.

"No he didn't," Levy pouted. "That was closer to mama!"

Tacks clapped and gurgled with laughter as the funny small woman threw herself at the large funny man with the glittery face in a vain attempt to overpower him. He wondered what they were called.

* * *

One night, Lily went out of his room to use the toilet when he saw Levy peeking around the door to the babies' room. Though the angle was poor, he could see tears streaming down her face. What had gotten her so upset? He snuck up to look around the doorframe as well.

Gajeel sat on a chair next to the crib, the baby balanced carefully on his lap. There was a large picture book open on his lap too.

"And then the big bad wolf went up to the house made of brick, and he huffed and he puffed, but he couldn't blow it down." Little Takamura had no understanding of the words and only the most basic appreciation of the big pictures, but he clapped and laughed anyway.

"It's just…too perfect!" Levy sobbed quietly. Her husband…the big brute Gajeel was actually reading to her child of his own volition! She glanced down at Lily as she pulled back from the doorway. "Don't tell him I'm doing this!"

"Levy, he's a dragon slayer – you could be doing this downstairs and he'd still hear you."

"I dunno," Gajeel called, "that may be a bit far away."

"Damnit," Levy said.

Gajeel grinned as he heard light footsteps flee down the hallway. He looked down at the happy bundle on his lap imploring him to continue. Of course he was gonna read to the baby! There were two principle reasons. The first is that he loved his son unconditionally and wanted him to have all of the headstarts in life that he never had. The second was that because of his own early life, his reading skills were poor. He needed to brush up on them as the baby grew, because he had a deep fear that one day his son would consider him stupid.

* * *

The days and months went by very quickly. It seemed like the whole world revolved around Tacks, for when they were not attending to his needs they were drawn to spend time with him. He had an infectious personality: he seemed to believe the world was one big happy playpen for him!

Eventually, Gajeel left to take missions more and more. They weren't exactly strapped for cash, but it was inevitable that they would of course need more. To see his face as he left you'd think that he was dying. He needed Lily to go with him, leaving Levy alone with Tacks.

Lucy would often come over with her own daughter, little Nashi. Nashi was ever so slightly younger than Tacks and had a similarly positive personality. They would sit on their playmat and happily play together while their mums chatted nearby. One day, Lucy noticed Levy admiring her son with a sad smile.

"What is it, Levy-chan?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just being silly, really. It's just that I was a sickly child. I was always getting ill. I'm so glad that he's not suffered from my problems. It must be Gajeel's influence!"

Lucy looked thoughtful. "Hmm…Gajeel's strength and your smarts…I wonder if this will be a special little boy?"

"Haha, that's a nice thought, but Gajeel refuses to teach him slayer magic due to the hazards. You know, the whole turning into dragons thing."

"Still," Lucy mused. "A strong body and a strong mind? It might be interesting to watch him grow up!"

* * *

Out on one of their missions, Gajeel and Lily were easily cleaning up a small pack of dark mages. Nothing special, no one strong. Lily watched Gajeel as he faced off against the last one. Clearly panicking, he summoned a bunch of needles that were so dense that it almost looked like a wall.

Lily grinned. Gajeel could simply put up his scales and power through such a weak attack.

Gajeel did indeed put his scales up, but he didn't rush forward. Instead he formed swords and parried expertly, deflecting the attack away from him. Not a single needle hit him. Then he rushed over and knocked the poor bastard out. Afterwards, Lily asked him why he'd been so defensive.

"I have a kid now, Lily. I gotta be more careful. I ain't leaving them behind."

"Oh? You've really matured, Gajeel."

"Shaddup."

* * *

Returning from a mission when Takamura was nearing one year old, he was greeted by Levy calling excitedly from the next room. He hurried in to see Levy standing in the middle of the living room, leaning down to support Tacks as he stood at her feet.

"Yer standing?" He asked his son, a proud smile forcing itself across his face.

"No, more than that! Go to daddy, Tacks!" To Gajeel's utter amazement, his son toddled over towards him. He knelt, gathering him into his arms as he reached him.

"Such a clever boy!" Gajeel enthused, standing to his full height. "Now, ya gonna say dada?"

Levy giggled. "Don't worry, you haven't missed his first words. He hasn't-"

"DADA!" Tacks shrieked. Gajeel simply froze, staring with disbelief at the smiling face of his son. Levy's mouth was a large round circle, her hand over it in shock.

"I..uh…I…," Gajeel stammered. Ironically, he had lost words as his son found them.

"DADA!" Tacks shouted again. Gajeel's lower lip was trembling, his eyes watering. He felt a small hand clutch his bicep.

"You were his first word," Levy beamed at him. "He must really love you!" She was surprised as Gajeel thrust Tacks into her arms and then ducked low, sweeping her off of the ground bridal style and hugging them both to his chest.

"Have I told ya that I'm the luckiest man in the whole world? My family is tiny, and it is perfect!"


	4. Birthdays, Bathtime and Burning

**Chapter 4**

**Birthdays, Bathtime and Burning**

**Gajeel is 24, Levy is 20 and Tacks is 1 **

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Takamura wailed in Gajeel's arms.

"Come on, Tacks! We're just gonna get ya washed up for yer big party!" Gajeel implored, not that his son would understand. He was one year old today. He knew about four words: Dada, Mama, Lala (what he called Lily) and, of course, No.

"NOOOOOOOO!" He repeated. Gajeel was holding him buck naked, carrying him to the bathroom where the bathtub was already full to the right level with lukewarm water. He may be one, but he understood what being carried naked to the bathroom meant.

Levy was downstairs preparing the food, which meant that this was the first time Gajeel had ever been left alone to wash his son. Levy had smiled like Satan at the prospect. Gajeel was beginning to understand why.

Reaching the bath with the struggling infant, Gajeel wanted to check that the water was okay, and made the very amateur mistake of setting his son down to check. By the time he turned back, we can all imagine that his son had vanished.

"Mother…flipper," Gajeel swore, altering his curse while within potential earshot of his son. He raced out of the bathroom. He was one! How far could he go on little toddler legs? He wasn't exactly walking properly yet, but then again, he could scoot around on all fours at a decent pace. Which way? His nose twitched, but the house was so laden with the scents of his family going in all directions that he couldn't pick up on the direction.

_Okay, Gajeel think, we're on the top floor. He can't go down the stairs by himself, so he's in one of these rooms. He probably went to his own bedroom._ He inched slowly down the hall like a predator hunting its prey. But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find him. Gajeel was oddly proud. His son hadn't fled to the obvious option.

He kicked down Lily's door with a flourish. The Exceed looked up from his pile of kiwis a bit guiltily. But Gajeel ignored him, treading around gently, examining nooks and crannies.

"Not here," he said, leaving. "Get help, ya've got an addiction."

Gajeel checked Levy's study, but that was empty too. At last, he checked his own bedroom and found Tacks curled up on his pillow, sound asleep. He wasn't quite sure how the baby had managed to scale the bed but it was goddamn adorable.

He reached down to pick Tacks up and the explosion was instantaneous. Gajeel held on as he squirmed and kicked and put him in the fucking bath. About five seconds later, Tacks was happily playing in the water with his bath toys.

"What the…frig?" Gajeel asked. "What was all the fuss about?"

He took about half an hour to slowly wash him around his son's playing, trying to do it covertly. There was a bit of a struggle to wash his hair, but overall, it went okay. Then he stooped to pick him up out of the bath."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tacks shrieked.

"What!? Now ya wanna stay in the bath?" Gajeel screamed, unbelieving.

"BAFFFFFFFF!" Tacks agreed loudly. Sighing, Gajeel reached in, but the baby splashed water in his face. Gajeel cursed (politely) and went after him again, heedless of the soaking coming back his way.

In the kitchen, Levy turned around to see a sodden Gajeel holding Tacks wrapped in a towel.

"I hate you," Gajeel stated.

"Good. Let the hate flow through you," Levy replied triumphantly. "Now get dried off, the guests will be arriving soon!"

Gajeel grumbled as he left, though it was hard to be too angry with the cute thing all wrapped up snugly in his arms. In fact, between Levy, Lily and Tacks, one could say that holding cute things was the happiest Gajeel ever got. Gajeel got dry and changed into fresh clothes, also dressing Tacks. Gajeel hated the concept of getting dressed up – people should just dress comfortably. So, he put Tacks in a black t-shirt and beige trousers…matching his dad perfectly. Gihihihihihi…lord, he was such a softy these days!

* * *

The first guests to arrive were Natsu, Happy and Lucy with little Nashi. Next came Gray and Juvia, the latter with a massively swollen belly. Juvia had never forgiven Love-rival for having a kid first. Then there were Jet and Droy, Tack's 'uncles'. Wendy and Charla came, of course. Levy had never forgiven Wendy for growing taller and _bigger, _but Gajeel was fond of the small slayer.

A small blunette. Big surprise.

Mostly everyone else was busy. Cana had explicitly stated that a party with no alcohol is no party.

The party was pretty dull, really. The guest of honour had no real idea of what was going on and was happy to play with Nashi and their building blocks. Suddenly, he cried out loudly, drawing the attention of the adults.

"Mama!" He shouted, pointing at his blocks. They spelled M-A-M-A. There was a hushed silence of amazement. Constantly being read to must be paying off. Lucy commented that Nashi hadn't even started speaking yet. Gajeel was about to comment something about Natsu's stupid genetics holding her back, but to everyone's surprise, it was Levy who jumped in.

"Don't feel bad, Lu-chan!" She tittered, hand over her mouth. She had no plans to mention that she'd used solid script to turn all of his letter blocks into 'M's and 'A's. "Just because my kid's smarter!"

"What was that, Shortstack?" Lucy asked with an evil twitch, towering over her friend. "Your kid's got a headstart!"

"He's only a few months older, and he was talking back then!"

"Oh? Well Nashi's gonna be much better looking!"

The two women fell into a squabble about every aspect of their children's lives.

"Women can be scary," Natsu muttered to Gajeel.

"_Mothers _can be scary," he corrected. Hurriedly, Gajeel got the cake ready to end the argument. It was a small sponge cake with but a single candle. However, as Gajeel was carrying it, it snuffed out.

"Awww," Gajeel went. He'd have to get another.

"No problem!" Natsu cried, jumping forward…and incinerating the entire cake and most of Gajeel's clothes. There was a horrific moment of complete and utter silence as Gajeel's gaze bore down on Natsu, slowing switching from surprise to primal fury. They were spared a murder as Tacks cried out again.

"FWWEEEEEEEEE!" He shouted happily. "FWWWEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Huh? Oh, he means the sound the fire made," Levy guessed.

"Wait, no!" Gajeel cried, spiralling out of control. "He likes fire? He wants to be fire mage? He wants to be a fire dragon slayer? This is yer fault! Sa…la…man…der…"

"Run!" Levy cried, but Natsu was already out of the door and running. Gajeel hurried after him, the last of his clothes disintegrating so that he was buck naked. He roared bloody vengeance far into the distance.

"Men can be so silly," Levy said.

"Fathers can be exceptionally so," Lucy agreed.

"DADA FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Tacks cried as Nashi laughed and clapped.

* * *

Levy was clearing away the dishes when Gajeel came back into the house, panting hard.

"Catch him?" She asked. He shook his head sadly, noticing Tacks asleep in a crib in the living room.

"Bastard managed to get away. He's pretty goddamn fast. I got a fine for indecent exposure."

"Oh well," Levy giggled coming through from the kitchen. "Hey, if he does want to become a fire mage, does that bother you? I mean, you refused to teach him slayer techniques."

Gajeel squatted down on the floor, staring at his sleeping child. Levy knelt next to him, hugging his bicep and resting her head on his shoulder. He thought for a while and then spoke.

"He can be whatever the hell he wants to be. I can't pretend that I like that idiot being his role model, but whatever."

"What if…he's really weak?" She asked.

Gajeel shrugged. "He doesn't have to be a mage. As long as he's happy, I'm happy. He can be a greengrocer for all I care."

"Hmmm….what if he's gay?" Levy teased.

Gajeel grimaced. "I guess…that'd be fine. I mean, Fried's a bit weird, but no more so than anyone else I suppose. No, I said I'd be happy whatever he wants to be and I'll stick by it."

"Ah! But here's the big test – what if he fell in love with Nashi?" She asked, swinging around to sit in his lap.

"How is that-"

"You and Natsu would be related." Gajeel's heart froze. It sounded like murder…but Nashi was really cute. Cute was good. That'd be fine…but Natsu as an in-law? Gah!

"I'll disown him," he joked, grabbing Levy's sides, making her giggle. "And I'll sell him off to the circus."

"Fair enough!" She laughed, kissing him deeply.

"Fweeeeeeee," Tacks mumbled in his sleep.

"Fuck."


	5. A Family, Complete

**Chapter 5**

**A Family, Complete**

"Yer making me so hot!" Gajeel said breathlessly as he examined his wife next to him in bed. Levy frowned and looked down. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts – not exactly glamorous. "What say we give Tacks a little brother or sister?"

"Are you serious?" Levy asked.

"Um…well…," in truth, Gajeel was just horny. But he sat there and thought about it. He'd been an only child and that'd been no fun at all. And…he kinda wanted a girl too. If they did it now, Tacks would be about two years old when the next kid was born. That was good time apart, right?

"Yes, I want another kid," he stated firmly. Despite the seeming randomness of their discussion, Gajeel and Levy had often talked about another child and both wanted one. It was more about choosing when to have it.

"Really? Me too!" Levy enthused. "But you have to make it a girl this time!"

"How is it my fault?" Gajeel asked.

"Because sperm decide the gender," Levy said wryly.

"I…guess…I'll trust ya on the science." He ripped his shorts off and shouted at his crotch. "Come on guys, think girl! We want a girl!"

* * *

**2 Months Later**

Levy had been visiting Poryslusica for a check-up and to help with some of the burns. She wasn't planning to tell Gajeel when he returned from his latest mission, but there had been an...incident with the fireplace. Thanks to Natsu, Tacks had something of an obsession with fire. To cut the story short, Jet and Droy agreed to install a fireguard in front of the fireplace while she visited the venerable healer.

She was entering a catch-22 situation. Normally, she wouldn't have even hesitated to throw herself in front of Tacks to protect him, but now that she was pregnant again, she was risking that child instead! Oh well, she'd taken the burns on her back and Porylusica had confirmed the health of her unborn child.

But of course the universe is a giant douche, and Gajeel was waiting for her when she got home. He immediately ran up to take Tacks out of her hands, as she was tired from carrying him the whole way.

"Any reason that I can smell burning?" He asked, brow cocked.

"MAMA FWEEEEEE!" Tacks cried happily.

"Uh well," seeing his over-protectiveness about to kick in, Levy brought out the big guns. "It's a girl!"

"It's a…that's great! We have our complete family!" Gajeel cried loudly, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders. "Ya hear that, Tacks? You're gonna have a little sister!"

"Nashi?" He asked.

"Yes, just like Nashi," Levy confirmed. Tacks looked happy. He liked Nashi. This sounded like fun.

* * *

**5 Months Later**

"GAJEEL! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Gajeel whimpered, trying to hide in his closet. Lily and Tacks were with him, shivering in fright.

"Mama s'ary," Tacks said quietly.

"Mama very scary," Gajeel agreed. Suddenly, the door pulled open and the trio fell out, Gajeel at the bottom. He looked up guiltily at his wife.

"Hey….Levy," he said sweetly.

"Why are you hiding?" She scowled.

"We were playing a game of hide and seek," Gajeel replied with a flawless lie.

"With all of you hiding!?"

"…we're not very good at it."

Levy reached down with some effort, lifting Tacks into Lily's arms. Then she grabbed Gajeel's ear and painfully forced him to his feet.

"Are you saying that I'm scary? Little old me?" Levy shouted.

"Clearly not," Gajeel forced out. What did hormones do his cute little Shrimp? She became some kind of hellbeast! Her belly was quite round now, and Gajeel had successfully avoided making unfavourable comparisons this time around. "You're kind and beautiful and perfectly shaped and very tall."

"Great!" Levy replied, turning pleasant in an instant. "Gajeel honey, could you get me that glass of water now?"

Gajeel shook as he went to the kitchen. The last glass had been too warm. The one before that too cold. The one before that too full. Too empty. A dirty glass. He handed the glass to Levy, who drank it and handed it back.

"Thanks, sweety!" She said, walking off. Gajeel collapsed to his knees and wept.

"Dada sad?" Tacks asked Lily.

"No, he's fine," Lily assured the child. "He's just being silly."

"WHO LEFT THIS PLATE OUT!?" Levy roared from the next room.

* * *

**2 Months Later**

Tacks had turned two years old a month or so ago. But that seemed really long ago to him. He now sat in a hospital corridor next to Uncle Lily, waiting as patiently as his young mind would allow. He understood that things were about to change, but not much else. What would it be like to have a little sister? Like having Nashi to play with all the time?

Daddy emerged, and he was crying, enormous rivers of tears dripping down his face. He reached down to pick Tacks up and hold him against his shoulder. They went into the scary room. Inside, his Mummy lay in a bed and she was holding something. Daddy set him down on a chair next to the bed so he could see properly.

"Tacks, this is your little sister," Mummy said. Tack stared and stared. She was an ugly thing, all pink and scrunched up. Didn't girls have hair? More than boys? That realisation had come to Tacks quite slowly, since Mummy and Daddy were the wrong way around.

"Sis-sis?" He asked.

"She's precious, Tacks," Gajeel said, his words softened by the tears that he was crying. "As the older brother, ya gotta look after her."

That didn't seem fair at all. Why did he have to look after her? Then again, she was very small. Daddy seemed to always say that small things needed to be looked after. Tacks had a question, but not the words to vocalise it. Fortunately, Mummy said it anyway.

"Her name is Aiko. It means little love."

"Cuz yer Mum wants her to be small like her!" Daddy giggled.

"She better be! I won't be surrounded by tall people!" Mummy and Daddy were silly sometimes.

"Aigo!" Tacks said loudly, not able to make his 'k' sounds properly. The little girl scrunched her nose up at the noise and began to cry.

"Whoops," Daddy said quickly, picking Tacks up. Mummy smiled and hushed the baby as the men left the room.

* * *

**A few weeks later**

Tacks was quite annoyed. He thought that he could play with his little sister, but all she seemed to do was cry! Whenever Daddy went away on a mission, it seemed like Mummy spent most of her time with the new baby, and whenever Daddy came back, he wanted to see her too! It wasn't fair!

"Takamura Redfox!" Mummy shouted, hurrying down the stairs. Uh-oh. Full name trouble. "Did you draw on your sister?"

"Noooo!" Tacks wailed petulantly.

"Takamura! What did Daddy say about your little sister?"

"Don't 'member!"

"You do remember! He said that you should look after her!"

"Sis boring! Mummy play?"

"No! Not right now, you need to learn your lesson!" Tacks wailed and moaned as he was put into time out for five minutes. It wasn't fair! Why didn't Mummy and Daddy play with him anymore? Of course, Mummy did read with him yesterday…and the last time Daddy was home he threw him in the air over and over. Uncle Lily played a lot too…

Tacks made his way to Aiko's room, where Mummy was still gently wiping her face.

"Mummy, I sowwy," Tacks said, tears in his little eyes. "I bad."

"Oh darling!" Mummy said, her voice breaking. "Don't cry! Come here," she said, kneeling down. Tacks ran over to cuddle as she wrapped her free arm around him. Aiko burbled away happily in her other arm. She had seemed to enjoy all of the attention!

The door slammed shut and Daddy called up. Tack's eyes lit up and he rushed out of the room, and down the stairs to greet him.

"Daddy!" He shouted. Daddy smiled so wide as he bent down to scoop him up. Daddy was so strong! It was always fun to be picked up, though Mummy seemed to disagree sometimes!

"Hey little guy! I got something for ya!" Before he could give it, though, Mummy came down the stairs with Aiko. She stopped a few steps up so that she could reach to kiss him as he walked over to her. "Oh yeah, this is for the little one!"

Daddy produced a little stuffed lion. Tacks didn't think it was very cute at all…it was black and silver and angry looking, just like Daddy! But Aiko reached over happily and grabbed it out of his hand.

"You were right," Mummy said quietly. "It seems like she has your taste in things!"

"She's a little Daddy's girl!" Daddy said proudly. Tacks blew out his cheeks. What about his present? His eyes opened as a book was waved in front of him. A book? That wasn't right! He couldn't play with a book! Tacks pouted and turned away. Mummy and Daddy were stupid!

* * *

Later that night, Levy came downstairs after putting Aiko to bed. From the staircase she peered into the front room. Sitting in the armchair with Tacks on his lap, Gajeel had the book wide open before them and was reading aloud to his son.

"Charlie couldn't believe it! He had found the last golden ticket! The kindly store owner turned to encourage him. 'Run Charlie, run as fast as you can! Tell your family all about this!'"

"No!" Tacks cried as Gajeel closed the book. "More!"

Levy giggled. She wondered if Tacks was old enough to understand why Gajeel had bought him a book. Gajeel had been worried that they'd not been spending enough time with him since Aiko had come along. So he'd bought something that they could do together.

"Come on, Tacks! Time for bed! Who's my big little guy?" Gajeel laughed as he held his son far over his head.

"ME!" Tacks shrieked.

* * *

Even later that, night Levy slipped into bed to be immediately carried across by powerful arms. His hand went to stroke her stomach.

"Have I said how glad I am that yer my little woman again?" He asked.

"You're just glad the hormones are over!" Levy said with a crooked smile.

"Nope, I'm just happy to have my four little people all under one roof!" He rolled over, positioning Levy on top of him. She reached up, stretching her arms around his neck and kissing him. "And the hormones being over is just a nice bonus, Gihi!"

"I'm not that bad, am I?" Levy asked.

"Woman, yer like Satan on crack!"

"Well, never again." She rested her head on his chest. "Our family is complete now."


	6. The Past is the Past!

**Chapter 6**

**The past is the past!**

**Gajeel is 27, Levy is 23, Tacks is 4, Aiko is 2**

Levy and Lucy were walking with their firstborn children, clutching their hands as they went. Tacks and Nashi were in the middle and held hands as well, forming a chain.

"So, I'm fairly sure that right now, Gajeel is hugging Aiko tightly and sobbing 'don't grow up too!'" Levy giggled.

"Natsu's not too different!" Lucy agreed. He was currently at home, looking after their second born, a boy named Ignale.

They were taking their children to their first day of kindergarten. Tacks and Nashi seemed aglow with the possibility of new adventures. They were all ready with backpacks full of paper and all manner of drawing things.

As Levy let his hand go, he never looked back, the positive pair of children rushing off for their first day. Lucy noticed a couple of other parents looking their way. It wasn't that surprising, she considered. They were Fairy Tail mages and were fairly famous. Hell, she had an action figure on sale!

It was ten times worse as Gajeel came along to pick him up at the end of the day. He looked annoyed, but he understood why he stood out with his piercings, clothes and reputation. But with so many adorable tykes running around, his anger was well in check.

Tacks ran up, babbling about his first day and the nice teacher and all of the friends he made, and this and that, and those too. He held up a picture he'd drawn in crayon of his family. Levy had to take it because Gajeel was bawling his eyes out at the adorableness.

A few days came and went with no incident. Then, when Gajeel was picking up Tacks by himself as Levy stayed at home to bathe Aiko, the teacher came out with Tacks. Gajeel's eyes widened. His son had a few scrapes on him!

"Mr Redfox, I need to speak with you," the teacher, a middle aged woman said. She took him into the classroom and they spoke in private. "I am Mrs Henderson, your son's teacher. I'm afraid that we found your son fighting on the playground with young Billy."

"It's not fair! Billy was saying lies!" Tacks shouted.

"Now Tacks, don't shout at yer teacher," Gajeel said. "Tell me what happened."

"Billy was making things up! He said that you were a bad man who hurt people!" Tacks pouted. Tacks waited for a moment, expecting to be shouted at, but no one spoke. Very, very quietly, Gajeel sat down, crossing his legs to bring him to about Tack's height.

"I was," he said, his eyes shadowed. "A long time ago."

Tack's face scrunched up as he tried to process this information. "But daddies' not a bad man!"

"Not anymore. Never again," Gajeel agreed. "But, I did hurt people. A lot of people."

Tacks turned to Mrs Henderson. "See? He isn't a bad man! I used to be a baby, but I ain't anymore!"

"I am not," the teacher corrected gently. Gajeel winced slightly at his bad diction rubbing off on his child. But he was more struck by Tack's acceptance of the past being the past. They say that hate is a learned response that children are not born with it. Gajeel wasn't sure how true that was, but at least he'd managed to let him know a bit about his past.

* * *

At home, Levy was struggling a bit. Aiko was developing into a boisterous child. She wasn't quite sure if she had any genetic input into her at all. Despite being a girl, the eyes were Gajeel's, the nose and mouth and the hair. And the attitude. When angry, Aiko would wail and lash out with her fists.

Maybe Gajeel could shrug that off without a second thought, but it hurt Levy, both physically and emotionally. But Gajeel didn't have to shrug it off, for Aiko was as good as gold with her father. Aiko adored him, watched him work, played with him over her mother. She had no interest in books either, unless it was quite action-packed and Gajeel was reading.

She was quite grateful when Gajeel and Tacks returned home. Gajeel took her from Levy's arms and shushed her. Aiko quickly settled after that.

"Ya alright?" Gajeel asked warily.

"Yes," Levy replied dejectedly, "but I hope she grows out of this phase soon. She's really pounding me!"

With the innocence only the young can summon, Tacks chipped in. "I guess that's another way she takes after Daddy!"

"What did you just say?" Levy exploded instantly. "Your father has never hit me!"

"I'm sorry…I just meant," Tacks stammered, confused by the sudden outburst. He hadn't meant to make Mummy angry!

"Shrimp, it's okay," Gajeel said softly, "I told him today about my past."

"Why would you do that?" Levy shrieked. "It's all in the past! Why would you drag it all up again?"

"Because it just came up!" Gajeel snarled. "I didn't want to talk about it either!"

Tacks was bewildered. He'd never seen his parents like this. Sure, Mummy and Daddy fought – all the time in fact. He'd always take the last slice of pizza. He often made property damage by accident. She'd go off in little literary fantasy worlds for hours at a time. But they never had serious fights. Tacks began to cry loudly, making them both stop.

"I'm sorry! Mummy…Daddy…I didn't mean to be bad! I didn't mean to make you fight!" He bawled at the top of his lungs.

"No no no no, darling!" Levy assured him, kneeling to comfort him. "It's not your fault!"

"But I don't understand! Why is it bad!?"

Mummy and Daddy looked at each other and sighed. They knew this would come one day. They sat down, and in long, extensive detail began to recount the events of Gajeel's early life and how they met. They weren't sure how much a four year old would pick up from it. But at the end, Takamura exploded, running over to his father with fury on his little face.

"Why did you hurt Mummy!?"

"I…I…I'm not proud…," Gajeel stammered.

"I hate you! I hate you!" With those words, Tacks fled the room and slammed the door to his bedroom shut. Levy watched warily as Gajeel placed a hand over his face and shining tears dripped down his cheeks. Aiko looked up from his lap to hug his bicep.

"DADA NO SAD!" She demanded.

"He's young, he'll understand." Levy soothed. "Just give him some time."

* * *

Tacks fumed angrily in his room. Mummy was so kind, so nice! No one should ever hurt her, ever! He wanted to do…something! He had to do something! He'd never felt this emotion before, but it writhed in his gut, made him unable to sit still.

He looked out at the night sky, with the moon high in the air. He'd run away! Like a hero from his cartoons, he'd go away and train! He'd become really strong, just like Daddy! Then he could protect Mummy from anyone! With the logic of a four year old, he made his choice. He packed some of his toys into a small backpack and quietly made his way downstairs.

He looked up from the ground floor. "Bye Mummy. Bye Daddy. Bye Lily and Sis," he said quietly, reaching up to just be able to unlock the front door and flee the house.

It was cold outside, he reflected. And scary without Mummy or Daddy to hold his hand. But he soldiered on, though he had no idea where he was going. He just wanted to be…somewhere! Anywhere we he could make sense of the emotions broiling in his chest.

Eventually, he ended up at the park he usually went to whenever they played outside. It was so fun with no one there! He swung the roundabout and laughed loudly, and went up and down the slide over and over again. Finally, tired out, he sat glumly on the swings, lost in simplistic thought. Only bad people hurt nice people, right? That's what he was taught. But Daddy was a nice guy! But Mummy was so nice too, how could he hurt her? He always said that Mummy should be looked after. That big and tough people should take care of the little people.

"Jeez, ya gave me a heart attack," said a familiar rough voice out of the gloom. Tacks didn't look around as Daddy sat in the other swing, the whole frame creaking slightly under his girth. "Luckily, I can hear well, and smell where ya went. Ya know that Mum's worried about ya, right?"

"What do you care?" Tacks replied petulantly. Daddy didn't respond and silence passed for a few heartbeats.

"I'm proud of ya, ya know?" Tacks refused to look at him, but was listening intently. "When I was yer age, I had no sense of right and wrong…well actually, I was much older than ya. I'm proud that ya feel so strongly about right and wrong that this bothers ya. Ya have yer mother's strong heart."

"No, my heart hurts," Tacks said after a minute, trying to put words to a concept a bit beyond him.

"Good. That means that it's working. Look…I was a bad man. A very bad man and I have no real excuse for that, except that I never had a mother or a father to look after me. And my 'dad' just left me alone one day."

Tacks felt a little confused by that. Didn't anyone tuck Daddy in bed at night? Make his food and hold his hand when they went outside?

Daddy sighed. "Yer mother…she saved me, do ya know that? Um…how can I…oh, ya remember the latest episode of 'Thomas the Tank Engine'?"

"You mean when Henry got stuck in the tunnel?"

"Yeah, like that. I was stuck in a dark place, but yer mum…and Grampa Makarov, they gave me the offer to get out, and I took it. Just like Henry."

"That episode made me cry," Tacks noted.

"Me too," Daddy said with a faint chuckle.

"So Mummy's like the Fat Controller?"

"Well…I wouldn't put it to her like that…Mummy has enough nicknames, yeah?" Daddy grinned that way that he did. "Remember afterwards? When Henry and Edward worked together, they did what they couldn't do alone. It's like that for me. I realise that yer mother made me a hundred times stronger than when I was alone. I'd never hurt her again. In fact, I'd protect her from anything. You and your sister too. I want to protect everyone I love."

"So…the things that are in the past don't matter today?" Tacks asked, alighting on the thought that he'd had in the morning.

"Some things do. Some don't. That's up to ya to decide. But ya know what would make Mummy the happiest person in the whole world? If ya could forgive me for what I did. It's part of that strong heart that she has. She can forgive anything."

Tacks hopped off of his swing and walked in front of his father, reaching up. Gajeel stooped and picked his child up into his arms.

"The past is the past," Tacks declared. He looked nervous suddenly. "I'm not gonna get shouted at for this am I?"

"This?" Gajeel asked as he walked back into the night, towards their home. "It's already in the past. It doesn't matter anymore."

…

…

…

"BUT DON'T EVER MAKE US WORRY LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

* * *

**If you don't know that episode then we did not share the same childhood and we are no longer friends! But it's called 'Edward, Henry and Gordon' and can be found on Youtube. Ahh, the internet – reliving my childhood one day at a time!**


	7. Babysitting Woes

**===Chapter 7===**

**Babysitting Woes**

**Gajeel is 27, Levi is 23, Tacks is 4, Aiko is 2**

Gajeel had gone away for a few days on a mission. That was normal, and Lily went as he usually does. Levy was thinking that she'd have to go on a mission with Shadow Gear soon – with Aiko now two years old, her maternal instincts had subsided to the point where she didn't need to be with her kids 24/7.

But then Lucy had appeared at her door with her two kids and thrust them into Levy's arms – quite forgetting Levy's lack of upper body strength. She'd pleaded that there'd been some kind of emergency – all very vague – and that she needed a babysitter on the fly. Levy's protestations fell upon Lucy's back as she was halfway down the garden path.

"Thanks, Levy-chan!" She called as she hurried away.

"Mou," Levy said, setting Nashi down quickly so she could support only Ignale. She hadn't spent much time with their two year old, but he reminded her of Natsu in most ways. He had tufty blonde hair and his father's expression. He just looked like the world was one big adventure to go and explore.

By contrast, Nashi was like a pink-haired chibi Lucy. She hurried into the front room, squealing with joy when she saw Tacks. Levy was glad that the two had made such fast friends. Ignale and Aiko on the other hand, were already glaring at each other.

Gajeel vs Natsu, the generational battle.

"DUMDUM HEAD!" Aiko bellowed.

"SMELLY GIRL!" Ignale shouted back.

"MUMMY! PLAY WITH ME!" Aiko demanded.

"NO! AUNTY SHORTY PLAY WITH ME!" Ignale wailed.

"My name isn't…"

"MY MUMMY!" Aiko wailed, grabbing the hem of her dress. Levy was vaguely happy that her daughter actually wanted to play together, but realised that it was very much a case of 'I want it because you want it'.

"Now now, let's use our inside voices," Levy soothed. "I can play with everyone. What do you want to play?"

"EAT FIRE!" Ignale shouted happily.

"Well…I can't…"

"Mummy so bad. Can't eat like Daddy," Aiko said with pout. Levy made a sweat drop. It wasn't her fault that all of their father's were so goddamn special! Nor could she summon playmates, but she could do some cool things. She set Ignale down next to Aiko and crossed her legs.

"How about this?" With her solid script, she wrote FIREWORK, the word constantly glowing and sparking. Ignale clapped and laughed, and she could see that Aiko liked it through the façade of her pout. Nashi and Tacks were also watching – this was all happening within the confines of the living room, after all.

"Hmm…then I have an idea! If I can make Iron…then I can make…" She stuck her tongue out, concentrating on a word she'd never written before, but the logic behind the language made sense. She wrote CANDY.

"OOOOH!" The children said with amazement. Levy felt so proud at her innovation. Ten minutes later, she realised her enormous error and collapsed against the couch with exhaustion.

"I gave them all sugar…," she mumbled, "and now they look at me like a candy store."

There was an enormous crashing and banging coming from the bedroom upstairs, and as long as she didn't hear any crying, Levy resolved to just to stay out of it. Four sugar addled toddlers were a bit much. Okay, far too much. Just let them play by themselves, wear themselves out…that was a good plan, right?

* * *

"Let's paint the room!" Aiko shouted.

"I dunno," Tacks said, looking at his little paint set, "Mummy might get angry."

"NO! PAINT!" Ignale bellowed, grabbing a pot in his little fingers. "Make it pretty! No, make it cool!"

"Pretty is good!" Nashi said, alighting on the simple concept. "Your mum will like it if we make your bedroom so pretty! I want to do a unicorn!"

"DRAGON!" Aiko retorted, going straight for the black paint.

"I guess," Tacks agreed reluctantly. Ignale was already making flames with the red paint. If this was his room, he should do it too! But what should he paint? Something nice… The room dissolved into excitable shouting as the four infants went about their games. Finally, Levy poked her head around the door.

"Oh, my! What have you done!?" Levy shouted in her most angry tone…which was not particularly angry. More shrill, really. Giggling children fled the room around her, carrying paint splattered hands with them. "No!" She shouted, racing after them, aghast at the little handprints along her pristine walls. Neither Levy nor Gajeel were exactly house-proud but this was any parent's nightmare!

She managed to pounce on Ignale, held back by his little legs and lack of knowledge of the house's rooms. He squirmed and she managed to get a handprint on her face, but she had him, and struggling with how to handle the situation properly, immediately washed his grubby hands in the sink. She made sure that Tack's door was closed so he couldn't go back to the paints and continued her hunt.

"Tacks! Nashi! Aiko! Get back here or there'll be trouble!" She huffed. Nashi appeared, looking sad. She was a good kid, Levy thought, washing her of paint and asking her to look after her little brother for a minute. Now to find her own kids. Fortunately, Tacks had followed Nashi like a moth to the flame, and was standing outside the bathroom in tears.

"Sorry, Mummy. I just wanted to play. I didn't mean to make a mess," he sniffled.

"That's alright, love," she soothed, carrying him in to clean him off aswell. Three down, one to go! This wasn't so bad – where had Nashi and Ignale gone? She bit back an angry curse. "Tacks, go to your room and clean away your paints, okay? Mummy doesn't want any more mess."

"Then candy?" Tack asked hopefully.

"We'll see, just please help Mummy, okay?"

"OKAY!" Tacks toddled away. Levy heard the sound that terrified her – crying. She hurried downstairs to find Nashi consoling a bawling Ignale.

"What happened?" Levy cried. Nashi looked reluctant to explain.

"We tried to get Aiko to wash her hands, but she got angry and hit my brother in the face," she said shyly. Oh bollocks, Levy had managed to get someone else's kid hurt. That was the number one sin of motherhood. "And then, she went outside…"

Levy glared at the front door, slightly ajar. While she was worried, she was fed up with Aiko's bad behaviour. Always violent, always truculent. As she hurried to the door, she was thinking about what she was going to do with her child. Tacks had been such a positive and happy child that he'd left them unprepared for Aiko.

As she reached the garden, she saw to her relief, that the gate was still closed. So she hadn't left the property. Thank God. She very suddenly heard the unusual sound of Aiko crying, and hurried along the garden to find her sitting by Gajeel's bike. With Levy's runes to counter motion sickness, it was the only vehicle that Gajeel could use. He normally took it on missions, but had walked due to the proximity of the current one.

As she heard her mother approach, Aiko turned to look, clearly distraught. She jabbed a little finger at the bike's chassis, where she'd gotten a splodge of paint. Of course, she might not care about general property damage, but if there was one thing in this universe she loved, it was her father.

"MUMMY! Didn't mean to! Wanted play, but, but…" She'd forgotten that she'd gotten her hands all dirty. "Daddy angry!"

Levy knelt by her child, stroking her hair to comfort her. "It's alright, nothing that can't be fixed. Maybe we can ask Uncle Reedus to make sure the paint job's okay. Would you like that?"

"Um yes! Make Daddy happy!" Aiko nodded forcefully. She looked around, brow furrowing as she thought. "Tank you, Mummy."

Levy smiled. "There's a good girl. Let's go and get you washed up."

Evnetually, Levy succeeded in corralling the four youngsters into the living room, where the sugar high was fading and they all looked a little tired. Hell, Levy was pretty goddamned tired too. She lay on the sofa with the four children nestled against her and fell sound asleep.

* * *

She awoke to a delighted, childish squeal. She expected to see the kids playing, but it was Gajeel, his mouth a giant grin under his glowing eyes. She hadn't expected him back so soon.

"So cute! It's like the five shortest, cutest people all gathered in one place!" He said with obvious, unrestrained glee.

"I'm not cute," Levy replied good-naturedly, rubbing her sleepy eyes. She winced at the deafening bellow of 'Daddy!' from a few inches away. Gajeel smiled and lifted Aiko into his arms.

"Not being giving Mummy any trouble, have ya?" He asked.

"Naughty," Aiko mumbled.

"Oh? Something to do with the handprint on my bike?" He asked, his features set and stony. Aiko looked like she was about to cry under that scrutiny. Suddenly, he smiled. "Cuz it's so cute! I love it! Wanna grab some paint and write your name next to it? That way I'll always know my little girl was there! Tacks, grab yer paints! Come on you four! I want one from each of you!"

As the kids hurried away, Levy huffed. "That's not fair! I do all of the work, and you just enjoy the playtime!"

"Sorry, Shrimp," Gajeel mumbled. "Maybe ya need to get away on a mission sometime. Ya must be going a bit stir crazy all by yerself. Lord knows that Tweedledee and Tweedledum miss ya! Gihihi!"

"Maybe I do." Levy sighed deeply. "Gajeel, we're going to have to do something about Aiko. She's not getting better. Unless she's with you, she gets violent and aggressive all of the time."

"Well, that settles it," Gajeel declared. "Take a long mission with yer team, and leave the kids to me for a few days. Let me have a chance to see her in action."

"You're not teaching her slayer magic! I can't handle that!"

"Shrimp, she's two."

"Now. Now, she's two. Imagine when she becomes a teenager and rebels even more! Oh God, she's gonna grow bigger breasts on purpose!"

"I don't think that's how it works…and aren't I supposed to be the immature one in this relationship?" He growled softly and picked her up in a hug. "It's like yer my little kid too! Gihihi!"

"I am not going to be called immature by you!" Levy pouted. "What was the damage bill for this mission?"

Gajeel's face fell slightly. "I dunno. Lily wouldn't let me see and took it straight to the guild. I may have levelled a church."

"You're joking."

"It was a small one! It was just in the way and I roared and then there…I'm maybe not the best role model for her…" They heard the thump of little feet down the stairs. "Ya come too! I want all of my little people's prints on my bike!"

"Won't it look a bit silly when you're driving around?" Levy asked.

Gajeel laughed. "Anyone's welcome to laugh…if they dare!"

Levy giggled and then panicked. "Oh, you haven't seen Tack's room yet! They made a big mess in there!"

"What kind of a mess?"

"Well, there's a unicorn and a lot of fire…and Aiko made a big black dragon, just like you. But Tacks, now he's a good little boy and painted me and him holding hands! Bless him, but it makes the whole day feel worthwhile!"

* * *

**Two days later, at the guild...**

"So," wheedled Cana, drawing up alongside Levy. "I've heard that you can maybe write Solid Script: Beer?"

Levy shuddered, pressing her forehead into the counter. "I've made a terrible mistake."


	8. Daddy Daycare

**===Chapter 8===**

**Daddy Daycare**

**Gajeel is 28, Levy is 24, Tacks is 5, Aiko is 3**

**That makes Jet & Droy 32 if anyone cares!**

"No!" Levy wailed, turning around and heading back for the umpteenth time. Jet threw his arms around her, picked her up and carried her back up the road. Levy writhed and fidgeted, ignoring the shame of everyone picking her up when they needed to. "No! What if they need me!?"

"Levy, Gajeel is with them," Jet said patiently.

"And that is supposed to reassure me!?" Levy exploded. Jet suddenly looked unsure and gestured to Droy for some support.

"It'll be fine," the large man assured. "Come on, Levy! Don't you feel a bit rusty? It'll be good to get you on a mission!"

"Okay, okay, I'm fine, you can put me down now," Levy said, lying through her teeth.

"Levy, I have super speed, you know. I can catch you if you run off again." Levy looked at him askance and began to struggle again. Jet and Droy sighed deeply and remembering Gajeel's strict orders, physically carried her the rest of the way to their mission.

* * *

"Alright, with Mummy gone, we're gonna make sure that everything runs smoothly, yeah?" Gajeel asked, marching back and forth like a general addressing his troops in his living room.

"Yes sir!" Aiko shouted with a big grin and a tiny salute.

"Okay, Dad," Tacks agreed.

"So…first things first…Tacks, do ya have any homework?"

"All done!" Tacks said with a big smile. One advantage of have Levy as a mother meant that Tacks was leagues ahead in his English lessons. James and the Giant Peach? He'd read that five times over!

"Okay! So, I guess we need to make sure you guys get fed. It's Monday, so what do ya normally have?"

"Pizza!" Aiko said with enthusiasm.

"Wha-no we don't," Tacks said confusedly as Aiko elbowed him.

"Then Pizza it is!" Gajeel declared, punching a palm. Behind him, Lily shook his head slowly. How on earth this big lug had managed to raise a five year old was beyond him. He needed constant supervision.

"They have fish on Mondays," he corrected. Gajeel looked at the cat for a long time.

"But I'd rather have pizza," he said at last. Lily started to interject, but Gajeel motored right on over him with a big grin. "We'll get anchovies on it, then! Compromise is important in child-raising, Lily!"

"No, it is a parent's duty to set rules and guidelines, Gajeel!"

"Don't care, pizza." Suddenly, Gajeel's eyes lit up. "I've got a great idea! Why don't we make one together? We have that dough in the cupboard, don't we?"

Lily glared at Gajeel, trying to find a reason as to why that didn't sound like a good idea. Okay, it was indulgent, but it was a family activity. And a long association with Levy had elevated Gajeel's cooking skills from cup noodles to actual food. Gajeel found surprising pleasure in creation rather than destruction.

Soon, they'd set up in the kitchen with a little plastic table for the kids to work on. The first job was to roll out the dough, and Gajeel wisely gave the rolling pin to Tacks rather than Aiko, who was more likely to brandish it as a weapon. Little tongue sticking out, Tacks worked to fatten the dough as best he could. There was flour everywhere, but hey, who cared, right?

He gave Aiko the tube of tomato paste and channelling her into a goal actually helped her to control herself. She was concentrating so hard as she squeezed, fearful of spraying it everywhere. Gajeel had already resigned to it, but she was good as gold. Using a large spoon, she spread the dollop over the surface.

"Okay, now the fun part, what d'ya want on top?" He asked.

"Iron," Aiko said loudly.

"Now, ya know that ya can't eat that," Gajeel replied gently. Up on the high counter he'd been preparing his own pizza, liberally sprinkled with nuts and bolts. Next to that was a small one littered with kiwi slices. Gajeel would never understand his partner.

"I wanna!" She pouted.

"How about…pepperoni?" He asked.

"Okay," she replied meekly. Gajeel smiled and sliced a sausage, handing the little discs to his kids, who spread them around with glee. He also remembered his promise of anchovies – and damn it, he was a good father! He might not get them eating their greens, but this counted, right?

"I think there's room for one more ingredient; any ideas, Tacks?"

"How about…peppers?" He asked. Gajeel was a little bewildered that he actually _wanted _a vegetable, but fine, they went well on pizzas, didn't they? Finally, with added cheese, the creations went into the oven and they retreated to the living room for some play wrestling. Gajeel 'lost' of course. Lily helped to make damn sure, and Gajeel wasn't sure that battle mode was appropriate for playtime.

Finally, the creations were ready and Gajeel cut the slices for his little ones. They looked so delighted with their own creation that Gajeel asked for a piece. He knew how happy they'd be if he enjoyed what they'd made.

The mistake is that he turned his back on Aiko and his own pizza. He wheeled around as she groaned.

"Aiko! Did you eat that?" He half-shouted, a little panicky. There was a bite taken out of a slice of his pizza. Had she swallowed a nut or bolt?

"I don't feel good in my tummy," she moaned. By the time she'd finished that sentence, she was already in Gajeel's arms and halfway out of the door. He shouted at Lily to look after Tacks as he ran to the hospital as fast as he could.

* * *

"It's fine, Mr Redfox," the doctor assured him.

"FINE!?" Gajeel shouted like a lunatic, looking at the x-ray. "She swallowed a bolt!"

"Yes, but it has no sharp edges and it's small enough for her not to have choked."

"She could have choked?" Gajeel had never felt so scared in his life. What would he have done if that had happened? It's not like he knew the Heimlich manoeuvre.

"Don't worry. It may not be pleasant, but she'll pass it naturally. I wouldn't want to do anything more invasive. But, she is young; they're more resilient than you might think!"

"I…I…I didn't mean to, I just looked away for a moment…"

"Accidents happen, don't beat yourself up too much."

"Daddy…," Aiko murmured, and with that, Gajeel cast the doctor completely out of his attention to focus utterly on his little girl.

"How ya feeling, sweetie?" He asked.

"My tumtum hurts. Can I have some ice cream?"

"Ya can have all the…no. No! Aiko, ya have to listen to what Mummy and Daddy tell ya. It's for yer own good. I told ya not to eat the iron because I knew it would make ya feel bad."

"But I wanted to!" She replied petulantly.

"I don't care. Ya have to listen to us! Mummy and Daddy know best!"

"Mummy stupid."

"Yer Mum is not stupid. She's very, very clever. It's yer Dad who's a moron, but ya've still gotta listen to me!"

"Don't wanna."

"Aiko…don't ya see? When ya don't listen, bad things happen. Mummy and Daddy know what's safe and what's not. Don't ya wanna grow up to be clever like yer mother and brother?"

"No! I wanna be big and strong! Do what I want!"

"Honey, I've done that. It won't get ya very far in life."

Aiko pouted and turned away. Gajeel sighed, defeated. He just wasn't getting through to her. He even was in hospital; a good indicator of his points and she still wasn't listening. Shrimp clearly had a point, they had to do something about this behaviour, but what? He knew that he wasn't great at discipline.

Gajeel thought that she'd start school next year, maybe that'd help. A bit more discipline and socializing. Put her in an environment where yelling and hitting wasn't going to get her own way.

Suddenly, the door kicked in and Levy rushed past Gajeel to her child, picking her up and kissing her head over and over again.

"Oh, my poor baby! I knew I should never have left! Mummy's gonna stay with you forever and ever and ever!"

"How the fu…dge did ya outrun Jet!?" Gajeel shouted, changing his swear at the last second. "Ya've only been gone for about five hours!"

"And you managed to hospitalize our child in that time!" Levy shouted, red-faced from running. Last time she'd seen Jet was skidding around an oil slick that she'd created.

"Well, a little bit," Gajeel moped. He didn't need his wife to help him feel bad about the incident. "Nothing serious."

"I'm never letting go now!" Levy declared. "I'm staying with my kids until they're all grown up! Like, maybe forty-two!"

"What is it with you and hormones?" Gajeel raged impotently. "Ya told me that bumps and bruises happen!"

"But they happen more when you're in charge!" Levy shouted, knowing quite well how unreasonable she was being. She tried to calm herself, but her Mummy hormones were in full swing. "Okay, she's safe. That's the important thing."

"So, ya've seen Lily, since yer here," Gajeel asked to a nod of confirmation.

"He actually said that it'd been a great morning of fun…but I kind of didn't hear anything after 'hospital', if I'm honest." Tired from her exertions of the day, Aiko yawned and fell asleep. Levy fawned. "D'aaaawww!"

"Do we baby her too much? Have we spoilt her?" Gajeel wondered. Was there a line in all of his doting that he shouldn't have crossed? He knew that he attached his children's happiness to his own.

"No different than Tacks, surely? I think Aiko's just a different person. She'll require a different way to handle than he did." Gajeel nodded in agreement to her words, resigned. At that point the door flew open again and Jet entered, now barefoot.

"Levy…," he hissed with clear annoyance.

"No! I'm not going back!" Levy cried. She was startled as Gajeel plucked Aiko out of her hands, and then picked his wife up by the scruff and gave her to Jet. "No! Would everyone stop carrying me!?"

"Shrimp, relax, take a few days off. What are the odds that we'll have another accident while you're gone?"

* * *

Two days later, Levy felt massively refreshed from her mission, though she was still driven to hurry home at top speed. She opened the gate to the garden to find her family standing there, covered in soot and grime. Gajeel was using the garden hose to wash his kids down and there was the distinct odour of burning in the air.

"Now, this I can explain," Gajeel started.

Levy sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Everyone alive?"

"Uh…yes."

"All fingers and toes accounted for?"

"Uh…yes?"

"Then I'll live with it. I didn't marry you for the easy times!"

"Well…ya might have lost a few books in the blaze," Gajeel admitted.

"My babies!"


	9. My Daughter is Crying

**===Chapter 9===**

**My Daughter is Crying**

**Gajeel is 29, Levis is 26, Tacks is 6 and Aiko is 4**

_The events of this chapter refer to a character that appeared in chapter 14 of 'Iron Body and Shining Soul'. He is called Kagetachi and was an executioner working for Phantom Lord before its dissolution. He sought to hunt Gajeel down for imaginary crimes._

"She hit poor young Andrew in the head!" The teacher, Mr Fenn said sternly. Gajeel hung his head in shame as he sat before the principal's desk. Aiko simply turned away and pouted.

"Andrew is stupid," she declared.

"Aiko, ya can't just go around hitting people because ya don't like them," Gajeel explained with frayed patience.

"You do," she replied curtly.

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because…Salamander's stupid," he finished lamely, clearly failing to find an argument. He looked helplessly at the principal.

"Aiko," Mr Fenn began, "do you not see the difference in your father's guild mates fighting when they wish, and attacking someone who had no desire to have a physical confrontation?"

Aiko frowned as if struggling with that one. Eventually, she shrugged, disappointing her father who had been hoping for an epiphany.

"Mr Redfox, I am truly sorry, but if we don't see an improvement soon we are going to have to expel her for the safety of the other students," Mr Fenn said sadly.

"I understand," Gajeel replied sullenly, shoulders drooping. He was beaten. He was all out of ideas. He could beat the most powerful of enemies, but this four year old girl was just too much for him.

* * *

Levy and Gajeel tried to alternate when they picked up their kids, so Gajeel picked up Tacks the next day. He was so proud of his son, how he seemed to enjoy learning. Pretty soon, Tacks would be up to start learning magic. Gajeel wasn't really sure if he would or not, but he hoped so. He kept to his vow of not caring how strong his kids were, but he understood magic, knew it well. That's when he'd be able to help his kid learn.

They got home and waited for Levy to return for Aiko. And they kept waiting. Gajeel was beginning to get worried after an hour passed. Lily reassured him that she'd probably just run into Lucy or something, but he seemed uneasy too. A few minutes later, Gajeel's comm-lacryma rang.

It was the hospital.

* * *

Gajeel was out of breath as he raced into the ward. His heart sunk to see his wife lying on a gurney. She was so still and grey that for a moment he thought that she was dead. But no, he could just see her chest rising and falling. Tacks ran to her the second his daddy put him down. He looked…shocked. Not sad or scared, but processing information poorly.

"She's stable," a doctor said warily, "but she's been poisoned by some powerful toxin. I'm worried about what will happen if she's like this much longer."

"Lily's gone to find Wendy," Gajeel said with absolutely no emotion. "She'll save her. But…where is my daughter?"

His tone was wavering between extremes of fear and anger and a policeman hurried forward. "Mr Redfox, your wife was attacked while taking your daughter home. She was struck once from behind, which apparently caused the poisoning. Um, I shouldn't be telling you this…"

"What!?" Gajeel snapped, snarling.

"Um…but you're a guild mage and a strong one at that. There…was a note." The policeman handed it to Gajeel and it took him a moment to realise that it'd been written on flesh. Not human flesh, his slayer nose told him, but grotesque nonetheless.

_Greetings, my dear Gajeel-kun. I hope you are well, because then I can enjoy making you as miserable as humanly possible. I have taken your little girl hostage. If you want to see her again, meet me at the laboratories. Perhaps you are as surprised as me to find them still intact, but isn't life full of little joys? Oh, and please do come alone; I'd hate for any accidents to befall such an innocent child._

_Yours sincerely, Kagetachi._

Gajeel's jaw was working as a thousand curses died half-formed in his throat. He was shaking so violently that he was afraid that he might collapse. How could this be happening? His wife gravely ill and his daughter in the clutches of a madman? Why did his past keep hurting his loved ones?

"Tacks," he said so quietly that his son barely heard him. "Stay with your mother and Uncle Lily. Daddy has to do something."

"Daddy!" Tacks ran over, crying. "What's going on!?"

"Lily will look after ya. I have to go and save ya sister."

"I…I don't understand!" Tacks wailed.

"Let your dad go," Lily said kindly. "Watch his back and remember that your dad will do anything for you two." _Gajeel, I'm trusting you on this one, _he added silently.

* * *

In the seven years of blank time and the years since then, Phantom Lord's original site had gone undisturbed. No one wanted the land of an evil guild, even if that guild had literally gotten up and walked off. What remained was an overgrown wasteland.

Somewhere under there should be the old laboratories, where Phantom Lord's resident madman had gone about his disturbing hobbies.

If he had tried, Gajeel could have probably found the entrance by smell, but that seemed silly. He'd make his own entrance. He leapt into the hair and summoned his spiral drill, slamming into and through the ground.

Hard earth gave way until he hit open space, landing in some nondescript metal corridor. He ripped a panel away and ate it, deciding for a little pick-me-up before the murdering began. Because if this asshole had hurt his only daughter, he was not going to be held responsible for his own actions.

A tannoy system blared into life, carrying Kagetachi's condescending tones. "Gajeel! So glad you could make it! If you would proceed to the end of the corridor and take the third door on your right, I shall be waiting."

Gajeel followed the instructions, limbs twitching with the boiling rage that threatened to consume his every waking moment. He passed through the doorway into a large metal room. Kagetachi awaited on a pedestal at the far end of the room. Gajeel quickly realised that he was standing between two enormous cannons. They looked similar to the Jupiter array, but smaller. This asshole had prepared alright.

"Daddy!" Gajeel's eyes snapped to his daughter. She dangled from the scruff by one of his foe's real arms. His teeth ground to see that she had a few scrapes and bruises. Of course, she wasn't going to be quiet and obedient, but this…this was too much for any father to bear. Every molecule in his body screamed to kill this bastard, but he couldn't lest he hurt her before he could cross that distance.

"Gajeel-kun!" The withered freak gloated. Kagetachi was a monstrosity, like a man who had withered to the point his legs could no longer work, but augmented with insane magical science. A respirator attached to his back had four additional mechanical appendages, and a long spine that carried him aloft like a snake.

"What do you want?" Gajeel ground out, voice thick with fury. "We've been here before, and you lost then. Even at my worst, I was never a vindictive freak like you!"

"Ah, ah, let's watch our manners, yes? I'd hate to accidentally slip!" A mechanical arm pressed a scalpel to Aiko's throat. Kagetachi leered to see Gajeel's pent up fury. "Now, I've prepared a little better this time. You see, all I ask is that you kindly die. And since I can't trust you to commit honourable suicide, the deal is rather simple. I'm going to shoot my cannons here, which will obliterate you, and then I _promise _to let your daughter go."

"No, you won't," Gajeel spat.

"No, but what choice do you have? Live and see me kill your daughter, or die and not have to suffer that?"

"Daddy! Don't leave me!" Aiko sniffed.

"Oh, how wonderful! What a dilemma the young father has to suffer!" Kagetachi giggled and pulled out a trigger. The cannons began to glow with magical power. "Choose quickly, Gajeel-kun! Why not just choose death?"

"I…I don't know what to do...," Gajeel whispered, tears in his eyes as blinding light erased his form from view.

"No, Daddy!" Aiko wailed. "Daddy, please come back!"

"Hahahahahaha!" Kagetachi gloated. "I did it! I finally killed the bastard! Tell me, brat, do you hate me for this?"

"D…daddy!" Aiko could only cry. She didn't know what else to do.

"My…girl…is…crying…" Kagetachi's eyes bulged as Gajeel appeared from the smoke, arms outstretched. He'd caught both energy beams in his palms after activating dragon force and throwing up every reinforcement spell in his repertoire. And still, he was grievously injured. He dropped to a knee.

"No! Stay back! I'll kill her if you come any closer!" Kagetachi threatened, panicking.

"She's…crying. You…made…her…cry…" Gajeel croaked. He roared, his body wracked by spasms. His right hand suddenly grew in size, talons erupting through flesh. A dragon's claw. He was so far beyond any rational thought, the dragon transformation as gripping him again. The need to kill something was overwhelming.

He screamed as his skull split, horns pushing through, his teeth and jaw enlarging. Onyx feathers began to sprout.

"NO! I said stay back!" Kagetachi screamed. In a single heartbeat Gajeel crossed the ten metre distance between them and slammed an oversized hand into the chest of his hated opponent. With a bloody gurgle, he went down. Gajeel had no idea if he'd killed him or not, and couldn't care less. His girl was still crying.

"It's okay," he stammered in a distorted voice, warped by his swollen jaw. He collapsed to the floor, feeling the weight of his injuries now that she was safe. "Daddies' here."

"Daddy!" She ran to his side, hugging his feathery shoulder. "What's happening?"

"Daddy loves you. He'll…I'll always come to save you," Gajeel mumbled, feeling consciousness drain from him.

"Don't go to sleep! I'm scared!" Aiko bawled. And just like that, Gajeel summoned every last ounce of power he had left. Tucking his daughter under one arm, he roared a hole in the ceiling and leapt up through it.

* * *

"It's not funny!" Gajeel pouted as best he could with his enlarged jaw. He was stuck in his this half-dragon state until Levy was well enough to scribe the runes of unbinding as she had done before. Which made him look like a pony ride to his two kids. They kept asking for piggy back rides and what could he say? They'd been through so much.

"You're just like a puppy," Levy replied happily. After extended help from Wendy, she'd recovered her health, but was still quite shaky. That toxin had been some nasty stuff. She'd spent the last two days blaming herself roundly for everything, no matter how much Gajeel pointed out that she'd been literally stabbed in the back in broad daylight. Even he would have been unlikely to dodge that.

He slept on the floor, too heavy for their bed. "Fancy some dragon sex?"

"Gajeel, that one sentence has spawned more fanfictions than I dare imagine," Levy replied drolly. "I am not some kind of deviant! Maybe…I could have a piggyback ride, though?"

"You're too heavy," Gajeel whined.

"You cannot spend your entire life calling me little and then complain that I'm heavy the one time it suits you!" Levy exploded. She frowned suddenly. "Aiko's been quiet recently. She's been playing up less and less."

"She's been through a lot. Who knows, maybe now she's seen real violence, she wants to do it less."

"Maybe. I'm worried, though."

* * *

Aiko was thinking unusually hard as she snuggled in her bed. Daddy had asked her to be nicer, and she'd seen firsthand how much he loved her. She felt ashamed that she was always so naughty when he gave everything in return.

She wanted to be strong like Daddy, but his strength was different, wasn't it? She needed to listen to him more, she conceded.

But her mother…Aiko scowled. Because her mother was weak, she'd been captured, hurt. She hated her! So weak it was pathetic! She wanted to be nothing like her.

She'd become a million times stronger.

* * *

**Please note that Aiko's thoughts are those of a four year old who has just had a traumatic experience, and are not supposed to be subjective in any way. They are also for future plots…**

**Sorry for the heavy chapter, but I promised emotional turmoil along with the fluff! I promise a fluffier one next!**


	10. Magical Power

**===Chapter 10===**

**Magical Power**

**Gajeel is 30, Levy is 27, Tacks is 7 and Aiko is 5**

"He doesn't love me anymore," Gajeel moped, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Gajeel, he's just taking his own path in life," Levy reassured him, hugging him from behind. "You said that he could do what he wants, and that you wouldn't teach him slayer magic."

"But, _fire magic?" _Gajeel had a way of making it sound much worse than any swear. "Like…_Salamander?"_

"No, not like Natsu. Like Romeo and Macao. Like Totomaru. Haven't you enjoyed seeing your old friend again?"

"Yeah, but…"

"And aren't you going to help him?"

"Of course…"

"And aren't you proud of him?"

"Stop being so damn clever, Shorty!" Gajeel snorted. "Keep this up and I'll be really mean to ya!"

"Oh, is the widdle dragon slayer all embarrassed?" Levy asked making kissy faces. "Awww, you're just like a big kid and-"

"Yer twenty seven but ya still look like a twelve year old!" Gajeel snapped.

"T…too mean!"

* * *

"Alright," Totomaru erased the magical whiteboard in his small classroom. He was giving personal tuition to the son of his old friend. "Can you repeat to me the seven types of flame?"

"Um…yes! Red is the strong flame, orange the normal flame, yellow the pungent flame, green the toxic flame, blue the freezing flame, purple the sticky flame and pink the fragrant flame." Tacks was nothing if not a quick study.

"Good. As you say, orange is the normal flame, but a good practitioner should be able to force out the red flame as well. We'll start there, as usual. Hmm…that Romeo kid could only master three flames by the time he was thirteen, but I expect more from you, son of Gajeel!"

"Um…can I ask, how will my flame compare to Uncle Natsu's?" Tacks asked innocently. Totomaru snorted, but that was an old wound these days. He was thirty five now, and his body was now that of a proper adult. It wouldn't be too many years before that black and white hair mixed together permanently into grey.

"Well, that moron is immune to your fire, I'm afraid. However, a fully developed red flame is comparable to dragon flame if it has the proper magical clout behind it."

"What about black fire? Uncle Natsu said that it was hard to eat."

Totomaru smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, black fire is the province of the God Slayers. It's not something that I can teach. However, there is theoretically the white or holy flame. I've never managed it myself, but it's possible to craft by unifying all the seven colours."

"Even you can't do it?" Tacks looked sad.

"Hey, don't sweat it kid! I'm sure that the mighty Redfox bloodline will do you well! And if that fails, I'll bet your mother gave you the smarts to figure these clever things out! But we're a hundred steps too early; let's see you make an orange flame first!"

* * *

A few weeks passed and Tacks was able to produce his first flame, a weak sputtering orange flame. Every day, his Daddy would take him out back, turn his skin to iron and tell Tacks to hit him with everything he had. Not only was Gajeel tough, but practically immune to flame, so it was good combat practise for the young Redfox.

What was infinitely harder for poor Gajeel was that his daughter for some reason always brought her homework to him for help.

"Which is 'your' and you're'?" She asked.

"Yer really asking the wrong person," Gajeel replied without a hint of irony.

"How do you spell 'unnecessary'?"

"Um…uh….U…N…N…ecessary. Shush, don't tell yer mother!"

"What are the names of the continents?"

"Um…there's like, four of 'em, right?"

After a while, 'ask yer mother' became Gajeel's catchphrase. He felt bad sometimes, but Levy always consoled him. She couldn't help Tacks learn to fight, after all. If Levy and Gajeel taught their kids their respective disciplines, they'd end up pretty damn well off!

* * *

"No, I don't wanna do this!" Levy whimpered. Lily looked down at her, giving a disapproving look to Levy rather than Gajeel for a change. Levy was trudging along through Magnolia, Lily easily keeping pace with her short strides in his battle form.

"It's good for them," Lily replied, "and it's a family activity!"

"But…training!?" Levy wailed. "I'm tired Lily, I wanna stop! I'm a thinker, not a fighter!"

"Training," Lily replied with a knowing nod, as if that was all that needed to be said. Levy cursed. She could normally count on the Exceed for level-headedness, but training was like the cat's religion. Well, since kiwis probably didn't constitute a theology.

She glared up the road. She had expected Gajeel to make huge headway if he so chose, but the fact that both of her children had gone on too had come as a huge shock. Damn the boundless energy of the young! Damn it to hell! She knew that Tacks was at a point where he needed to start training, but she'd hoped that Aiko might have waned, but no, the girl was so doe-eyed for her father that she'd follow him anywhere!

Levy stopped outside of a bookstore and refused to respond to Lily anymore. She'd just wait here until they came back around. Gajeel smirked as he came back down, his children flanking him with red faces. They'd gone for a run and she'd ended up buying a book instead? Gihihi, he did so love her for that! Levy had never looked as grateful as when they finally returned home.

"Alright, now push-ups!" Gajeel shouted to a trio of assents. Levy buried her head into the couch and refused to move. She didn't have the upper body strength for this!

* * *

"Nashi!" Tacks cried happily at the playground the next day. The young Dragneel joined him on the roundabout.

"You look tired," she noted with concern for her lifelong friend.

"Dad's helping me be stronger. I do wish he'd slow down sometimes, though," he replied wistfully. Then he smiled again. "How's your magic coming along?"

"Great!" Look at this! Nashi jumped off of the playground ride and focused her concentration. She was surrounded by a shimmering halo of celestial magic, like a blanket of stars in the night sky. _Pretty_, Tacks thought with a red face. "But I can't do anything useful with it yet, though…"

"No! It's great!" Tacks enthused. "We'll be the strongest in Fairy Tail, right?"

Nashi giggled. "We're not even guild members yet!"

The two kids shut up as they heard a ruckus. Oh dammit, their mothers had arranged poorly and both their fathers had accompanied them to the playground this day. And the topic of conversation could only be one thing, couldn't it?

"My kid's a thousand times stronger than yers, Salamander!"

"Nashi's strong, Metalhead! Just you wait and see!"

"Tacks will make fire so strong that even you can't eat it!"

"But Nashi will be able to summon all twelve spirits at the same time!"

"She's not a spirit mage, ya dumbass! Hasn't Lucy taught ya the difference between a celestial mage and a celestial spirit mage yet?"

"Yes, but I don't understand!" Natsu said with utter conviction. He looked sly suddenly. "But I'm gonna teach Ignale dragon slayer magic!"

"Are ya kidding me!?" Gajeel raged. "What about…"

"Ha! I've been talking to Igneel, Bolt-for-brains! Humans can't teach pure slaying magic, so they can't pass the curse on! Ignale's gonna be a fourth generation slayer!"

"F…fourth generation?" Gajeel stammered.

"A slayer with a human parent! Who knows how strong that'll make him! Maybe he'll not have the edge…or maybe he'll be stronger because he's a hybrid!"

"Yer thinking of Saiyans not Slayers, you moron!"

"Who cares? Maybe it's the same?" Natsu said dismissively.

"Then I'll make Aiko a fourth generation Iron dragon slayer and she'll kick Ignale's ass!"

"Oh really? You never beat me once!"

"SALAMANDER!" Very shortly after that word, they were kicked out of the playground for excessive use of combat oriented magic around minors.

* * *

"Shrimp, get up," Gajeel said crossly, folding his arms. His wife was splayed all over the living room floor, exhausted from the day's exertions.

"No, it's too much. I miss when our kids were too little for all of this stuff," Levy mumbled into the floor. "Now they're going to grow bigger and stronger, and you're all going to leave me behind. I can't take all of this running and exercise."

"Shrimp, yer an S-class mage. A light workout isn't gonna kill ya."

"LIGHT!?" She looked up from the floor like a madwoman. "Wanna help me decipher an ancient text? It's only 1'000 pages long!"

"Uh, no….that'd kill me…I see yer point." He shrugged. "They're growing up, aren't they? It won't be long before Aiko starts learning magic too, or that they'll both be taller than ya."

"Shut up."

"Mummy! Daddy!" Tacks hurried down the stairs, seemingly distraught. "My hair!"

Levy and Gajeel stared. The tips of Tack's hair were turning a pale, sky blue, just like Levy's.

"Oh, I've read about this," Levy said, scooting over to her son and gently examining his hair. "When some people have their magical power awaken, their hair colour changes. It seems like your recessive genes are starting to show!"

"B…but," Tacks stammered. A growing boy was confused enough! Why was this happening too? He felt so embarrassed to have to go to school the next day. He felt like everyone was laughing at him. He stayed by himself on the playground, hoping that he wouldn't be seen by…

"Tacks!" Nashi cried happily as she ran up. Her expression became shocked as she noticed his change.

"Um…hey Nashi," he mumbled, face burning red.

"Oh wow! That's so cool!" Nashi enthused, a huge smile spreading over her face. "Your mother's colour is so much better than your dad's!"

"R-really?" He asked, startled and confused.

"Yay! Now you have strange hair like me! It's weird being the only pink-haired girl in school! It's the only colour rarer than blue!"

"Thanks," Tacks said quietly.

"Now come on! Show me more magic!" Nashi sang with joy. "I wanna see a flame more beautiful than my dad's!"

"Okay!" Tacks bellowed.

* * *

"You want me to teach you the pink flame next?" Totomaru asked, raising an eyebrow. "Most boys just want to skip straight to the red flame…"

"Well, you see, there's a girl…," Tacks replied, annoyed by how much he was blushing recently.

"Ah, say no more," the teacher chuckled. He knelt down to whisper in a conspiratorial fashion. "You must never speak of this to anyone, but buy some aromatic candles and light them with the pink fragrant flame. Trust me, the combination of all those scents…it's like catnip to women!"

Tacks had no idea what that meant exactly, but if Nashi would like it, then it sounded good.

* * *

**Basically, I wanted to retcon Tack's hair colour to blue. So I invented a justification. Consider this poor planning on my part. Aiko's still black like her dad, though.**

**BTW, I uploaded two pics of the kids on my deviantart account, including one of them as adults. The adult pic is probably my best drawing ever (not saying much), so please check them out if you wanna know how I envision them in this story.**

**Sorry if this chapter was a bit disjointed, but I'm trying to lay some groundwork with these events.**


	11. A Mother's Love

**===Chapter 11===**

**A Mother's Love**

**Gajeel is 30, Levy is 27, Tacks is 7 and Aiko is 5**

"Ahhh! It's nice to get away for a bit!" Levy sighed as they entered the hotel. Gajeel shouldered their luggage and headed over to the bar. It was getting late now, and it was time for some alcohol. He placed an order and got ready for some sweet, sweet release when he looked over at his wife.

"What the hell are ya doing with that?" He asked, raising a metal-studded brow in scepticism. Before Levy sat a pint of ale, just like his own.

"I'm on holiday, so I'm going to enjoy myself!" She asserted boldly. "I'm going to finish the whole thing!"

"Shrimp, ya can't finish a bottle of sake, how the hell are ya gonna down a pint?"

"Just watch me!"

Gajeel sighed. "Guess it's not just Lily who's gonna spend the weekend looking after rebellious little people."

* * *

"Arrrrgggghhhhhhh!" Shouted the Redfox siblings in unison as they wrestled for the TV remote. Tacks was bigger and stronger, but Aiko was filled with the fervour of a small daemon.

"OW! She bit me!" Tacks wailed. Lily shook his head at them, fighting like…well, brother and sister.

"Stop it, both of you!" Lily snapped. "It's a beautiful day outside and you want to watch TV? No, as your babysitter, I won't allow it! Let's train!"

"Uncle Lily always trains," Tacks noted, eyes closed. Aiko nodded forcefully. "So boring."

"What!? Training is not boring!" Lily gasped. "It is a way of life, it is…"

"Boooooooooooooooooorrrrrriii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing."

"You are not watching Spongebob for the entire weekend!" Lily stated firmly. "We're going outside, so choose something that you'd like to do!"

"Zoo!" Aiko shouted.

"That sounds…good," Lily said with mounting surprise. It was a sunny day; they had the whole weekend together, what could go wrong?

* * *

"They trapped me in the panther cage!" Lily raged, pacing back and forth. Charla tried to hide her mirth, but Happy laughed loudly, hopping from one foot to the other. Lily began to tremble. "And she was in heat!"

"How did they manage that?" Charla asked, clearly bending her limits of tolerance.

"Uh, well they threw a kiwi through the door when the assistant opened it and I may have gone right after it…" The tolerance caved and Charla joined Happy in laughter. "It's not funny!"

"See? Even Lily can be cute," Happy said to Charla.

"I am not cute! And neither are those kids. Aiko's always a monster, and without his parents, Tacks is becoming the same. I have to nip this in the bud now. It's their fault; the rest of this weekend is training, training, training!"

"Sounds fun," Charla deadpanned.

* * *

"Shrimp, stay still!" Gajeel rumbled, trying to pin her down in their hotel room. She'd gotten approximately halfway through that pint before she was absolutely blind drunk. It was endearing in a way, but the aftermath was a terrible burden to bear.

"Ne, ne, Gajeel! Gajeel! Let's go out!" She cried, flailing around.

"No, yer too drunk!" He admonished, trying to calm her down.

"Okay. Ne, ne, Gajeel! Gajeel! Wanna go out?"

"I just said NO!" He roared, vein throbbing on his forehead.

Levy sniffled and then really let the waterworks fly. "Don't shout! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Shrimp, please stop crying!"

Levy returned to normal instantly. "Okay. Ne, ne, Gajeel! Gajeel! Let's go out!"

"Oh. My. God."

"Gajeel! Ne! Gajeel! Ne! Gajeel!"

"It's like Ocarina of Time all over again, with a small annoying fairy!"

* * *

"Climb faster!" Lily demanded, soaring overhead on his wings. They were out in the mountains near the edge of Magnolia, hiking. Or rather, two of them were. Lily simply flew, tormenting them with his mobility.

"We're too young for this!" Tacks argued, trying to clamber over a rock.

"You are aspiring Fairy Tail mages! Are you going to give up?" Lily demanded. He began to go higher, leaving them behind. "Is this all of your father's strength that you got? Hasn't your mother given you the strength of will to carry on? Pah! Pathetic!"

"Uncle Lily's mean today," Aiko said miserably as he floated off.

"We did replace one of his kiwis with a small coconut," Tacks admitted, scratching his cheek. They set off, going higher up the mountain. Tacks knew that Aiko wanted to start training with her father, so she pushed herself hard despite her age and stature. She was pretty good, since he was two years older than her before he started learning magic. He'd have to train hard so as not to be overtaken. His father had often imparted the need to protect small things.

Eventually, they found a cave in the mountainside. Aiko was clearly curious.

"Don't go in, they say bears live in caves, and nastier things," Tacks advised calmly. By the look on her face, Aiko clearly had no intention of paying attention, but unfortunately, the cave's occupant decided to greet them himself.

A Vulcan, ape-like and loping dashed out and back-handed Aiko away, across the hard ground. For a moment, Tacks truly thought she'd been killed, but he could hear her cries of pain.

"You bastard! That's. My. Sister!" Raging, Tacks generated the strong red flame for the first time in his life and lunged at the Vulcan, driving his blazing fist into the beast's chest. The Vulcan cried out and staggered back a few steps, but Tacks wasn't anywhere near strong enough to put any real damage on it.

Tacks raised his arms to intercept the incoming punch, but was still knocked sprawling by the beast's strength. He gasped, never having experienced such pain. He was helpless as the beast advanced on him.

WHAM!

The Vulcan went backwards a full ten metres, slamming into the rock wall with a sound like a thunderclap.

"You got some nerve, attacking these kids," Lily stated, now well over seven feet tall in his battle mode. "We were supposed to be having fun training. But you decided to ruin that."

The Vulcan got back onto its feet, screaming at Lily. In return the Exceed reached over and pulled out his musica sword, the blade extending by ten times its original size.

"You wanna go? Let's go."

The Vulcan took one second to process that and fled back into the cave.

"Are you two alright?" Lily asked, returning to his smaller body in a puff of magic. Tacks pulled himself upright and nodded weakly. He was worried about Aiko, who was bawling her eyes out.

"It hurts!" She wailed. Lily went over to examine her.

"It's just a few scrapes. You've had much worse." It was true. Aiko was an active and boisterous child. She'd gotten many a bruise and gash over the years. So why was it that even a day later that the injuries hurt so much? What was different, even after Lily's expert medical care?

Aiko's memories began to surface, reminding her of who had always cared for her.

* * *

"_Oh you poor thing," Levy crooned over her crying child. She sat Aiko on the kitchen counter and worked to apply disinfectant to the scrapes she'd picked up on the playground. She made sure to always apply a mummy kiss to every injury, to help it heal better._

_When she'd finished, she picked Aiko up in her arms – despite the fact that she was getting a bit heavy for Levy these days – and hushed her, singing a song._

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird._

_And if that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring._

_And if that diamond ring turns brass, Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass._

_And if that looking glass gets broke, Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat,_

_And if that billy goat doesn't pull, Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull._

_And if that cart and bull turn over, Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover._

_And if that dog named Rover won't bark, Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart._

_And if that horse and cart fall down, Well you'll still be the sweetest baby in town._

_There was no medical care quite like a mother's love._

* * *

Gajeel dumped their bags through the front door, mumbling to himself. An entire weekend's worth of freaky sex gone down the tube due to his wife's inability to hold her liquor. She was groaning and rubbing her head. Good! Part of marriage was vindictively sharing misery, right?

Aiko came running down the stairs, all tears and gabbled greetings. Gajeel noticed her injuries and kneeled to scoop her up, but for the first time in his life, she ignored him and ran to Levy instead.

"Mummy, mummy, mummy!" She wailed as she buried her head in her mother's chest. "Don't go away ever again! I needed you!"

"Hush, hush, what happened?" Levy muttered, rocking Aiko back and forth. There was a very brief description of events.

"Where's Lily?" Gajeel roared, ascending the stairs. "I'm gonna find out if there's room to swing a cat in here!"

"Don't be angry with Uncle Lily," Tacks said on the landing. "He's fled to Charla's for safety, but it wasn't his fault. Besides, it was good. Dad? I'm gonna get stronger. I'm never gonna let anyone hurt Aiko ever again."

"Yer becoming a little man," Gajeel said proudly, tussling his hair. "Still, I gotta punish Lily!"

"I already made him bite into a coconut, so I think we're even."

"You switched a kiwi with a small coconut, eh?" Gajeel mused, rubbing his chin. "GIHIHI! That's my boy! Now, let daddy teach you a thing or two about pranks! Let's head on down to the butchers."

"The butchers?" Tacks asked, clearly puzzled.

"Gihi! Kiwis also happen to look like ox testicles!"


	12. Height Problems

**===Chapter 12==**

**Height Problems**

**Gajeel is 33, Levy is 30, Tacks is 10 and Aiko is 8**

Tacks was helping his mother as they went to the local corner shop. There was some kind of boy's night coming up and Gajeel was supposed to bring a six pack of beer. Levy giggled to imagine Gajeel gossiping with the other boys. She couldn't really picture it all and she wondered who had dirt on him to force him to go. Probably Mira.

They took the beer to the checkout, and were roused from idle chatter by the cashier, a man in his early twenties.

"I'm sorry, but I can't sell this to minors," he said with firmness.

"I'm thirty!" Levy snarled like a daemon. She suddenly realized that she'd not brought her handbag – only needing a few notes and her house keys, meaning that she'd forgotten her ID.

"You and your brother will have to get your parents to buy this if you want it."

Levy gaped like a fish at the insult. "Brother!? I am his mother!"

"Love, you're twenty tops." He looked between the pair. "You're the same height, for crying out loud."

The words sent a shiver down Levy's spine. She turned to look at her son, who was observing her with a blossoming smile.

"It's happened," he said in a small, happy voice.

"No."

"Dad has to know."

"No."

"I'm going home to tell him."

"Takamura M Redfox, I am ordering you to go nowhere."

"Can't stop me!" Tacks raced out of the store as Levy stood there helplessly. She glared up at the cashier.

"For this, you will die a slow and painful death."

* * *

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Tacks shouted as he burst through the front door, rushing up to his father. "It's happened!"

"What's happened?" Gajeel asked in confusion.

"The day has come!"

"The d…that's great! To the measuring wall!" In the living room, next to a doorway was a series of marks where they recorded the children's heights over the years. In addition, there was a strong black line at Gajeel's height, and a blue one at Levy's. It was a tradition that Levy hated and Gajeel loved.

Tacks stood against the wall. Exactly at the blue line. Gajeel got on his knees and threw his arms around his son.

"I'm so proud," he wept, tears spilling like waterfalls. "I never even noticed. I love you so much."

"I love you too, dad!" Tacks cried in return.

"Oh, you're all morons!" Levy sniped as she came through the doorway, her cheeks red from combined exertion and frustration.

"What's happening?" Aiko asked as she hurried down the stairs.

"You're brother has done it, Aiko. At the young age of ten, he's reached yer mother's height!" He began to cry again, full of joy.

"That's so great, Tacks! Me next, I'm gonna do it too!"

"Of course! Soon, we'll all be taller than mummy!" Gajeel sang, sweeping his kids into a hug. Levy seethed with simmering rage, ready to explode in a heartbeat. This wasn't funny! They had no idea how hard it was being permanently little!

* * *

Later that day, Levy was working away in the kitchen, preparing lunch. She began to open and close cupboards, looking for something. She called through to the living room.

"Hey Gajeel, where's the pasta?"

"Oh, I think I left it in the top cupboard," his reply drifted lazily through the doorway. The top cupboard? Levy looked up at it helplessly. Damn his inconsiderate act! She had two choices; ask for help or climb. She was afraid of more mockery this day, so she decided to climb.

"_No, I'm not."  
_

_I SAID, Levy decided to climb._

"_No, you'll make me fall."_

_Yes, now get up there._

"_You just have a fetish for tormenting short girls!"_

_I wouldn't say fetish…_

"Fine!" Levy huffed, clambering onto the worktop barefoot. She stood, opening the door and taking out the pasta. She carefully began to kneel down to dismount, but her footing slipped and she fell to the floor with a squeak and a glare of hate at the author.

"Shrimp! Ya okay?" Gajeel asked, rushing in at the noise of the impact. Levy was back on her feet, rubbing her sore shoulder. She jabbed a finger into Gajeel's chest.

"You have no idea! I'm not okay! I'm short and I'm bloody well fed up of you constantly making fun of me for it!"

"I…uh…"

"Listen you tall bastard! I have to get clothes from children's shops because adult sizes don't fit me! I have to get custom shoes if I want anything classy! I have to do bloody gymnastics if I want to reach a high shelf! My ten year old son is as tall as me! I'm fed up to the back teeth of it, so…FUCK OFF!"

* * *

"And now she's not talking to me!" Gajeel finished up his story at the boy's night, around a long table in the guild hall. "Like I've done something wrong!"

"You're a flipping moron. Do you have no sensitivity to people's emotions?" Gray sniped.

"Me emotionally dead? How long did it take ya to figure out that Juvia liked ya? She was throwing herself at ya fer like two years!" Gajeel retorted and Gray looked away, embarrassed. Of course, Gray was now the proud father of a little girl called Karren. They only had one kid, as Juvia was the sort of person who threw all of her love at one individual. Hopefully they didn't drown in it.

"I don't get it," Elfman admitted. "She's the same height as everyone else!"

"You're too tall!" Gajeel shouted. Your perspective's off! Help me, what do I do?"

"You could stop calling her Shrimp, for a start," Natsu deadpanned.

"Never," Gajeel stated flatly. He span around as someone called his name. Crap, it was Makarov! He was here?

"I have an idea, Gajeel-kun…"

* * *

"What the hell happened?" Levy cried as Gajeel entered the bedroom in the dead of night. He was considerably drunk. She'd been up reading, and she was amazed.

Gajeel was her height!

"I had –hic- old man Makarov resize me! Hic! So's, fer a week, I'll be the same height as ya, hic!" Gajeel slurred drunkenly and promptly fell over. Levy caught him and he was so much lighter. "See? I'm gonna show ya how much I love ya…or something, I lost track of the plan after –hic- a while!"

* * *

Gajee woke up the next morning and rolled out of bed clutching his aching head. That had been a fair amount of alcohol, he supposed. He wandered into the toilet. As he relieved his bladder he suddenly noticed how high off of the ground the toilet was. Had they gotten a bigger one?

No.

Oh no.

Gajeel went back into the bedroom to be confronted by the bizarre view of Levy at head height. No, no, no, damn you drunken Gajeel, once again you ruin me! She was smiling a dazzling smile, clearly very happy.

"You're so cute!" She teased. "Now don't worry, I've asked Tacks to borrow some of his clothes, so you don't have to wear the same stuff Makarov shrunk all week!"

"This is…this is…," Gajeel rumbled, clearly unable to articulate his rage with the current situation. This was all backwards! Shrimps should be shrimpy, not the same height! Why had he done this again? It all seemed so sensible last night, but now it seemed ridiculous.

"Oh honey? Could you grab me my copy of 'Charlotte's Web'? It's on the top shelf and I can't reach it." Suddenly, her expression went evil. "No slayer magic, it wouldn't be fair!"

"Yer loving this, ain't ya?" Gajeel hissed as she left.

* * *

Bookshelves collapsed under his weight as he clambered up. Fixing them, normally a five minute job, was hard as well. He had to reach over his head, a tiring position to hold.

He'd begun training with Aiko recently. He'd never exactly planned to hit her, but all of his punches and kicks suddenly had no reach at all! He couldn't produce the right momentum from his smaller frame. It didn't help that his daughter was very obviously enjoying smacking him in the face!

He had to cook dinner. He went from Bolognese to stir fry, so as to avoid using the stuff stored in the higher shelves.

Walking arm in arm with Levy was just plain _weird. _It was easier, since he could hold her hand properly, but it just felt so wrong. Shrimp was Shrimp. She should be all the way down there, not up here!

He _almost _had problems purchasing alcohol, but his distinctive appearance managed to let him persuade the cashiers of his true identity. But everyone had started talking down to him like he was a child! Voices pitched upwards like he was cute! Even if he was short, he was an adult, damnit!

* * *

"Do people talk to ya like yer a child?" He asked Levy in their bedroom when the week was up.

"All the time," she admitted. "A lot of people just equate shortness with being young."

"But I just look like a short adult!" Gajeel whined. "You actually look like a twelve year old!"

"You're supposed to be learning empathy!" Levy roared. "People always say to me that I'll be happy to look young when I'm old! Well, I've hit thirty and I still look like a teenager. Lu-chan, Cana, Juvia – they've all become women, but I'm stuck like this!"

"Ya forgot Wendy."

"Oh, you motherfu…I'll never forgive her for growing up!" Levy shouted. "Now, haven't you learned anything? Come on Gajeel, say something that shows me that you've learnt something about empathy towards the vertically challenged!"

Gajeel sighed. "I do see what ya…ulph…urgh…" With a bloated noise, Gajeel's body began to swell. Makarov's spell was beginning to wear off.

"No no no!" Levy wailed. "Finish that sentence, quickly!"

"I…urgh…I…" Gajeel suddenly returned to his full size with a popping sound. As the discomfort passed, he began to grin and pounced on Levy, lifting her high off of the ground. "Yay! Yer the cutie again! Who's my little baby? Who's my little baby?"

"Noooooo! You didn't learn anything!" Levy cried, tears flooding.

* * *

A day later, Levy was carrying some books down from her study to the basement, which was essentially her own personal library. She was surprised to find Gajeel assembling a ladder. He looked up at her with a smile.

"I decided that I ain't having my precious Shrimp hurting herself. So, I'm making you this ladder here. The metal's really thin, so it'll be light enough for ya to move around, but I'm making it really strong so it won't break on ya."

"You're so kind," Levy replied happily. "Thank you."

"And when I'm done, I'm gonna reinforce all of these shelves, because we both know that ya'll still spend half yer time clambering around like a monkey!"

"Well…probably," she said, cheeks tinting red. "Maybe you did learn something after all."

"I love ya the way ya are, ya know."

"Huh?" Levy was a bit struck by the sudden change in tone.

"I know ya hate being short, and I know I make fun of ya, but I love the way ya are. And even if it annoys ya, I'll love that ya'll look so young, even when we're both old fogeys!"

"I'm not gonna…we're going to be old together?"

"Well, of course, right?" Gajeel asked. "Why wouldn't I be with a perfect woman for eighty years or so?"

"You're just a big softy!" Levy smiled.

"Gotta match my little softy, right?" Gajeel grinned.

* * *

**AN 1: "I just got fucking retconned! I'm an Iron-Shadow dragon now!" Gajeel shouted joyously.**

"**So, you've lost your moon powers?" Levy asked.**

"**Well, I was happy with them in the other fanfic, but let's move forward with a canon power over a fanfiction one. I am Gajeel Redfox, the Shadow-Iron Dragon! And this is Levy Redfox, the Short Shrimp!"**

"**Don't make fun of me in the footnote too! Mou!"**

**AN 2: The height I've decided Levy is (4'10") is the average height of a ten year old boy, hence Tacks. I've never liked how short Romeo and Wendy are drawn. If Wendy was a normal height, she'd already be taller than Levy. Of course, maybe Levy's taller, but then Natsu's over six foot and Elfman over seven!**

**AN 3: I'm considering a chapter or two with a host of OC children. Do people want that, or is that annoying? I know that I hate remembering names! Nashi and Ignale will have a role to play whatever, mind.**

**AN 4: The M stands for McGarden, if you were wondering *anyone paid attention?***


	13. A New Generation of Fairies

**===Chapter 13===**

**A New Generation of Fairies**

"No! Juvia will not allow it!" The water mage huffed, becoming quite irate. Levy raised her hands in a gesture of placation.

"Come on, Juvia. It'll be good for them. None of the missions are dangerous." With the swell of young Fairy Tail members recently, with the children of Natsu, Lucy, Levy, Gajeel, Gray, etc all coming of age at about the same time, Fairy Tail had implemented a new 'E-Rank' mission board.

The S-rank mission board was still the same as ever, upstairs with the S-rank, SS-rank and higher quests. In the last ten years, most of the Tenrou group had become S-class. Though an S-class mage herself, Levy rarely used the opportunity anymore. A decade as a mother before being a mage had softened her skills a little, and Gajeel was more than happy to rake in the cash.

The main board used by most members, had the A to D rank missions, which ranged from monster slaying to decryption to escort missions. The E rank missions were trivial in the extreme, including things like 'do my laundry' or 'walk my dogs'.

It was made for the kids, but often real members paid a visit when they needed a quick buck. Never Nab, of course.

"My little Karren is precious!" Juvia cried, hugging her daughter close. The young girl rolled her eyes in the embrace. Levy had no idea how a human could survive being the sole attention of Juvia's affections for nine years, but here she had, though she was more than a little spoilt.

Karren had Juvia's wavy blue locks, though they were quite a bit darker due to Gray's influence. Perhaps more alarming were the stripping tendencies. They'd just about managed to enforce a minimum to protect her innocence, but anything else went flying at any opportunity.

"Please, Mum. I want to be strong like you and Dad," Karren pleaded. That was a bit of an understatement, Levy thought. She was proud of her own kids, but Karren's mix of water and ice magic was positively lethal. Once she'd grown up, Karren might be really quite special.

"I'm sure that with Tacks and Nashi that there'll be no problems!" Levy quipped. In retrospect, that was the worst thing that she could have said.

"Tacks…Nashi…and Karren? L…l…love triangle!" Juvia blurted, returning to a mood levy had not seen in years. "And it would be with _that _woman's daughter! Like mother, like daughter! Love-rival always getting in the way!"

"Mum, I don't _like _Tacks!" Karren protested.

"Now Karren, what have I told you?"

"When you find a boy, cling on and don't let go?"

"That's right!"

"So…I should go with them?" Karren asked, seeing the opportunity. Juvia hesitated, seeing the contradiction of ordering her not to spend time with the boy and Karren forcefully accepted Levy's gracious offer and hurried off to join Tacks and Nashi at the board.

**===][===**

"You can tell Levy about this, you know." Lily floated alongside Gajeel's shoulder as they moved through the busy city centre.

"Shaddup, damn cat."

"This is a good thing, Gajeel. No need to be embarrassed like a little girl."

"Say that again, I dare ya."

"Like. A. Little. Girl."

Gajeel glared of his partner of more than a decade with simmering anger but turned away and strode on.

"I ain't embarrassed."

"Then you'll tell Levy tonight?"

"Fine! Now kindly fuck off!" Dismissing Lily, Gajeel looked up at his destination. The magical council.

**===][===**

"So, are you three from the guild?" Asked the old man who opened the door.

"Yep!" Tacks said brightly, proudly displaying the Fairy Tail crest on his shoulder. "We've come to clean out your basement, like the flier said! I'm Tacks, and this is Nashi and Karren!"

"Please, do come in!" The old man replied cheerily, leading them down to his cellar. The two girls balked at the sight of it. Crap was strewn everywhere. Tacks laughed suddenly. Compared to the mess his mother and father made, this was nothing! He was used to scrap piles of iron and books stacked as high as his mother could reach.

They began to work, and Tacks was a little surprised to see Karren muck in. He always thought of her as quite the little princess, but it wasn't her fault that Juvia spoiled her rotten. It was all going so well until Tacks lifted a crate that he thought was solid, but the bottom fell out, sending a paint can into the floor. The seal broke and red paint ended up on the floor, covering the trio's feet.

"My shoes!" Both girls cried at the same time, slowly raising their heads to glare at Tacks.

Oh crap.

**===][===**

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

The two cyclones of magic impacted and negated one another. The second they were done, Aiko and Ignale surged towards each other, small fists flying. At this time, they could only cover their fists in their elements, and Aiko had to use her metal-shod hands to ward off the flames.

"Iron won't lose to fire!" Aiko shouted.

"I'll burn away even your metal!" Ignale returned.

The two children sat panting, exhausted. They were far stronger than eight year old children deserved to be, but they were still little.

"I'll get you next time," Ignale said sulkily, folding his arms.

"Like hell!" Aiko snorted.

They looked around as they heard a chuckle. It was Uncle Gray, having watched the whole fight. Levy had asked him to look in on the kids.

"You two remind me of me and Ignale's dad. We'd always fight like this. It's good to have a rival, it makes you grow stronger, right?"

"Shut up," Aiko pouted. "Daddy says that you're just a perverted stripper."

"Put some damn clothes on!" Ignale demanded, jabbing a finger at Gray's crotch.

"Oh, crap!" Gray shouted, noticing his nudity and running to find his clothes.

**===][===**

Later, Tacks was trailing behind the two girls as they left a shoe store. He'd just lost all the money he'd gained from the mission plus some to replace his damage to their footwear. Not to mention the lengthy chores of scrubbing the paint and the pain of shoe-shopping. Oh, the pain. Dad had mentioned that clothes shopping was hell, but he'd never thought it'd be this bad!

"I love your shoes, Karren! They're so cute!" Nashi thrilled.

"Yours too!" Karren returned happily.

When had they become such good friends? Did…women bond during that hell? How could any creature flourish in that infernal environment? Clearly women had fortitude that males lacked. At least it appeared that he was out of the doghouse. All was right in the world again.

There was a scream up ahead and the trio looked. A woman was shouting as a man ran past her, now clutching her handbag. A common thief, heading their way.

"Come on!" Tack shouted, running forward. An orange flame swelled in his fist and he charged at the thief, belatedly realizing just how much bigger the full grown man was.

"Out of the way, brat!" The thief shouted, smashing his fist into Tack's face before his own punch could land.

"Tacks! Celestial Barrage!" Nashi waved her hands over her head, a stream of stars materializing in a dark blanket. The heavenly stars surged forward, exploding like bombs, but they didn't strike the thief. A glowing barrier separated him from the attack.

"An anti-magic charm?" Karren guessed. That was a rare and expensive item to own, and wouldn't stand up to a real mage, but it would do a very good job of stopping the magical power ten year old children could produce.

"I said to get out of my way!" The man shouted, drawing a gun and pointing it right at Nashi. The gun fired, but Karren jumped in the way, deflecting it with an ice shield. "You goddamn brat!" The thief raged, preparing to unload the entire chamber. Tacks leapt at him from behind.

"You leave them alone!" A red flame shone at his fist and it impacted with the barrier. Tacks roared, sending every ounce of magical power into the attack that he could, but the barrier didn't break. The thief grinned and lowered his gun at point blank range.

_I'm still too weak…_

A gun fired.

The thief shouted as his gun flipped out of his hand, struck by a bullet from the side.

"Now now, I can't let you hurt my friends," said a new girl entering the scene. She was eighteen, with a white vest and tight denim shorts. A cowgirl hat sat on her head and two pistols were in her hands.

"Asuka-nii-chan!" Tacks shouted. The thief didn't hesitate, turning and running down the street. Asuka calmly lowered a pistol and waited. Waited. She fired three times in quick succession. The first bullet hit the shield, penetrating a short way. The second hit the first bullet, pushing it in further. The third hit the first two, destroying them and passing unobstructed through to hit the thief.

"Spark shot," the young O'Connell said as the thief went into convulsions and fell to the floor.

"You're so cool!" Tacks enthused, unaware of how the other two girls suddenly got jealous.

"Well, I can't let any harm come to Uncle Lily's family!" She said happily. Suddenly, Tacks staggered to the side as Karren wrapped herself around his arm.

"You're so brave! How you tried to protect us!" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"W-wait, what!?" Tacks cried.

"Oh my," Asuka said. She'd seen this before. Poor Tacks.

**===][===**

"Juvia, please stop!" Levy cried as the water mage was throttling her, an arm wrapped around her neck.

"My Karren was in danger!" Juvia shouted. "I can't ever let her leave my side again now!"

"I know, I'm worried too, but they're growing up! They saw someone in trouble and tried to help! Who knew that a common thief would have such a magical device? Please Juvia, I can't breathe!" Juvia conceded and let a gasping Levy go. The smaller woman looked over at where Tacks sat at a table, a livid bruise on the side of his face. Karren was not letting go, and Nashi's cheeks were puffed out as she watched.

_He's definitely becoming a young man…_

"Love triangle!" Juvia shouted, making Levy shuffle a few steps away from the madwoman. Gray entered the guild, Aiko and Nashi running around boisterously. Levy was not surprised to see the two children all scraped up. It happened every time they 'played', after all.

"Mommy!" Aiko cried as she ran up. "I beat him, I really did!"

"No she didn't!" Ignale shouted. "We drew!"

"But I'm a girl, so I win!"

"That doesn't matter!"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia cooed, throwing herself at her husband.

"It's getting noisy," Levy commented wryly. Ah well, this was Fairy Tail. Maybe noisy was for the best. A pair of nine year old girls argued at the job board. Both were tall for their age, a product of the father's genetics and strikingly similar due to the relationship of their parents. One was a bright blonde, her hair drawn into a ponytail, and the over a sparkling silver, her hair mimicking the other's.

Laura Dreyar, daughter to Laxus and Mira and Beatrice 'Bea' Strauss, daughter of Elfman and Evergreen. There was another pair of strong women, Levy thought. They'd overtake her pretty quickly. In fact, most of the youngsters were girls, it seemed.

There was Tacks and Ignale, and over there was Gabriel Scarlett. The young man had the most bizarre hair Levy had ever seen, red and blue in streaks. Gerard and Erza's genetics had combined in an odd way. But, talk about strong! He was one of the youngest at eight – it had taken a while to clear Gerard's name and get into a relationship - partly whu Gabriel had Erza's surname - but he was clearly talented.

Levy looked up, noticing Makarov regarding the guild hall. He must be happy to know the future is in good hands. The old man was about a hundred years old now. Levy dreaded to think that he would pass away soon. But Makarov always seemed happy. The generation was turning.

**===][===**

"Oi, Shorty!" Gajeel called as he entered the house late at night.

"It's late!" Levy huffed, coming up to him. "Where have you been?"

"Look, I'm about to tell ya. I was just down at the magical council…"

"Oh my god! You destroyed another church, didn't you? Those are expensive, Gajeel!"

"No, I didn't…"

"A library!? You monster! Those poor books were helpless!"

"Shrimp, listen!" Gajeel shouted. "I was down at the council taking jobs!"

"You were doing what with the what?" Levy asked, confused.

"Look, Shortstuff. I'm getting older now, and I've started to think where I wanna be with my life. I'm an S-class mage, so I'm not gonna get any higher with Fairy Tail unless I become the guild master. And that ain't gonna happen." The conversation had moved into the living room and Gajeel sat in a chair, drawing Levy onto his lap. "What I wanna become is a wizard saint."

"That's a lofty goal," Levy said.

"Everything seems high up to you." Levy smacked him and he went on. "But being strong ain't enough to become a wizard saint. I need a good name. So…I've gotta cut back on my wanton destruction and I've started to take some quests from the council."

"Council quests? Those are all to do with legal matters, aren't they? Catch this criminal, solve this crime; things like that. Oh my god!"

"Is it that bad?" Gajeel asked, wary of Levy's reaction.

"No! Imagine it; with you on the job, the crime rate will halve! No one will want to cross the Iron-Shadow dragon!"

"I hadn't thought of it like that."

"He is a dark knight. He is not the man Magnolia deserves, but he is the man Magnolia needs."

"Shrimp, shut it. Yer really mangling that quote. It's not like I've stopped being a Fairy Tail mage, I'm just taking a few jobs from the council as well."

"Gajeel Redfox, wizard saint. It suits you," Levy said, beaming up at him. Suddenly, she grinned. "You were embarrassed, weren't you? Was the big bad iron-shadow dragon all shy? Was he scared of what little old me would say? No, don't tickle me!"

"Ya brought this on yerself."


	14. Girl Power

**===Chapter 14===**

**Girl Power**

**Gajeel is 34, Levy is 31, Tacks is 11 and Aiko is 9**

**Warning: This chapter is pretty poor, IMO. Whenever I get stuck, it takes me a while. I'm not happy with it, but I wanted an Aiko story before the next chapter, which will be up faster as I know what I want to do with it!**

"I wanna go on a mission!" Aiko wailed, staring up at the job board. It was still distressingly high for her. Wasn't Tacks taller than this by now? What if…she ended up the same height as her mother? No! Never! She needed to get on missions and get stronger! Stronger and taller!

"Now, now, Aiko," Gajeel said patiently, kneeling down to her height. "Yer still a bit too little to be going on missions by yerself."

"But mummy is little too!" Aiko flailed around as if trying to grab a point out of the air. "She can't even reach the top cupboard!" Gajeel was holding in a laugh, well aware that his wife was within earshot, glaring at him. There'd be plenty of time to make fun of her height later.

"If you want to go on a mission, ya'll need someone to look after ya. Someone bigger and stronger. Someone reliable and clever. Like me."

"No."

"Well, yer mum then."

"No."

"Grr, Tacks or Lily…"

"NO!"

"Ya gotta pick someone! I ain't letting my little girl go on a mission on her own, even if she is a dragon slayer!"

"Hmmm…I wanna go with Laura! She's cool!"

"Laura?" Gajeel asked, looking over to where the named girl was arguing with her cousin. Laura was ten years old, the daughter of Laxus and Mira. She had blonde hair, drawn back into a ponytail and a jagged lightning bolt scar over one eye. Gajeel remembered the day she got it. The headstrong girl literally cut herself to imitate her father. That had been one of the more dramatic days in recent history and Gajeel had never seen Mira so angry, but there was no doubt that it suited her.

Gajeel did not consider Laura a good influence…but in fairness, Aiko was the same. Levy had caught her trying to pierce her nose one day, but thankfully got there in time to prevent it. Gajeel didn't mind her daughter getting piercings in the future, but cute things should stay cute!

"I dunno," he said inconclusively.

"What if Bea comes too?" Aiko asked. In truth, that probably made it worse. Laura was arguing with her cousin right now. Beatrice was the daughter of Elfman and Evergreen, and in Gajeel's opinion had picked up the worst traits of both of them. She was the splitting image of Laura, even down to the hairstyle, though she'd picked up her father's hair colour.

"I dunno," he repeated.

"I wanna!" Aiko shouted and then held her breath.

"No, Aiko! Aiko, breathe! No, I'm not gonna give in! Aiko! Aiko!"

**===][===**

"And that's how you deal with daddies," Aiko said smugly. The trio of girls were walking through Magnolia, heading to their mission. Like all E-rank missions, it was a simple affair, a dog walking job. She was trying not to notice how they were both considerably taller than her. Both of their fathers were exceptionally tall, after all, and weren't held back by a certain mother, who shall remain nameless.

"If your daddy is a moron," Laura agreed.

"My daddy says that your daddy is a poo-poo head," Aiko snorted.

"My dad is a Dreyar!" Laura shouted. "He is grandchild to the guildmaster and next in line!"

"Tch, there she goes," Bea said snidely. "Always about family."

"It's not my fault that uncle Elfman is too weak."

"My dad is not weak!" Bea raged.

"My dad is super strong. Even squirt here has a slayer for a parent."

"Don't call me squirt!" Aiko shouted.

"And my mum is the second strongest woman in the guild, second only to Erza," Laura bragged.

"Just shut up! You always do this!" The three girls fell about into an aimless brawl. Aiko was smiling the entire time. Laura and Bea were great - this was so much fun!

**===][===**

"Alright Tacks, repeat it back to me," Levy ordered. The pair sat at the desk in the basement, books on magical writing spread out before them.

"Okay. If we break down the language to its basic components, there are thirty two syllables, though new ones can arise from a few unique arrangements. For instance, the 'yu' syllables usually drop the proceeding vowel, for instance 'fyu' or kyu'."

"Good! Now, let's try to write a sentence. We want to try and tease out the magical forming properties of the language. How do we do that?"

"We…want to write a cyclical sentence, where the end attaches to the front but preserves meaning. That will be hard."

"Don't worry, I'll help you," Levy reassured. She smiled at her son protectively. "You know that you're strong, right? For your age, you're really good."

"No, I'm weak," Tacks replied curtly. "I have to become stronger. Aiko's gonna overtake me soon."

"Honey, I learned a long time ago not to resent the strength of the slayers. Some magic is inherently stronger than others."

"But the person can make up the difference, right? Uncle Gray's just an ice mage, but he's on par with Uncle Natsu. And Auntie Erza's just plain scary."

"Now, certainly don't compare yourself to her!" Levy barked a little laugh. "Learning this script magic will help you grow, and that's more important than your actual strength. Just growing into the best you that you can be."

"Thanks, mum. But I want to be strong enough that people can rely on me. Strong enough to protect my nakama." Tacks felt his mother's arms wrap around his bicep.

"I know that feeling very well. I promise you, that once you're an adult, you'll be strong. That's obvious to me now, but I imagine you're impatient to grow up. I know that feeling too!" Levy smiled that bright, sunny smile of hers. "There's no shame in being eleven years old. When I was eleven, I spent most of my time standing behind Erza and trying not to run away!"

"Yeah, but you're tiny," Tack said dismissively.

"I was just going to say that you're becoming like your father. Don't start making short jokes just because you've hit five foot."

"Five foot three, I measured last week."

"Mou! Damn the growth spurt that I never got! At least Aiko looks like she'll be a shorty! Then she'll see the pain! Muhahahaha!"

"You're too cute to do an evil laugh."

**===][===**

"Where are we going?" Aiko asked a little nervously. "Wasn't the mission down there?"

"Nah, we're heading just a little out of Magnolia," Laura stated. "When the adults weren't looking, I switched for a C-rank mission."

"What?!" Bea raged. "Laura, you can't just do that!"

"Can't I? My mum runs the bar and my dad is the next guild master in line. I can do whatever I please!" She grinned evilly. "You two aren't scared, are you?"

Well, that settled it. Neither of the headstrong girls was going to back down before a challenge like that.

"Well, what is it?" Aiko asked.

"No big deal, a Vulcan's taken up occupation of a cave nearby. They want it gone." Aiko balked a little, remembering how a Vulcan had attacked her and Tacks before. They hadn't even been able to scratch it! But now, wasn't she a little older than Tacks had been? And Bea and Laura were strong! Yeah, they could do this! Aiko wasn't scared of anything, she was a Redfox!

They headed out of Magnolia a little way, up into the lowlands. The cave was pretty close to the main trade route, it was easy to see why they wanted rid of the beast living here.

"Oi you, come out and face us!" Laura shouted into the cave mouth, making the other two cringe slightly at the straightforward approach. The Vulcan emerged, a large apelike monster. It cocked its head, as if there was some kind of joke. Were three girls challenging him?

"Go on, Aiko!" Laura grinned, clapping her on the back.

"What!?"

"I'm sure you can handle it!" Aiko puffed out her cheeks and advanced.

"I'm warning you," she stated boldly. "That I know three spells! I'll beat you!"

The Vulcan grinned and punched. To his absolute amazement, the tiny girl caught it with both hands, her strength surging as iron scales covered her skin. An iron pillar smashed into his jaw as she brought a leg up, and then she roared, blasting the beast at point blank range.

But the Vulcan wasn't even close to beaten and punched Aiko in the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Aiko! Mystic Soul Takeover: Fairy!" Sprouting ephemeral wings Bea took to the sky and summoned a hurricane of fairy powder in the manner of her mother. The Vulcan crossed its arms, shielding itself from the powder as it exploded around him. It leapt into the air and smashed Bea into the ground.

Though it was winning, the beast noted just how much damage the children had caused it. These were ten year old girls! They shouldn't be putting up this much of a fight!

"Pathetic," Laura said, stepping forward. Vermillion lightning flickered, engulfing her body and making her pupils shine. "You, beast. I am daughter to Laxus of the lightning and Mira, queen of demons. You think that you have a chance?"

The Vulcan grimaced, its expression turning to pure fear. For a moment, Laura felt confident, until she noticed that the beast was looking over her head at something. Her magic dissipated in an instant and she began to tremble.

"Mum's behind me, isn't she?" Laura croaked. She turned to see the most terrifying sight imaginable. Mira Dreyar, her face plastered with that sunny, happy smile of hers.

"Excuse me, mr beast! Do you think that you could leave, please?" She asked politely. The beast nodded slowly, trembling like a leaf and then fled into the distance with great alacrity. Which meant that Mira's attention was now solely fixated on her daughter. "Do you really think that if you switched the flyers, I wouldn't notice?"

"It wasn't my fault, mum! They made me do it!" Laura lied.

"Now Laura, we've talked about this before. I know that you think that you're special and super strong, but the rules of the guild are in place to protect you. And more importantly, you've led your guildmates into an attack where they were hurt."

Laura looked at the other two girls. Sure, they were hurt, but both were on their feet. Hell, Aiko looked excited!

"Um…Auntie Mira?" Aiko interrupted. "Why did you stop her? She was about to do something really cool!"

"You're so like your father," Mira giggled. "Always want to fight and you love seeing strength, don't you?"

"Of course! I'm gonna be the guild's strongest woman! Just like you and Auntie Erza!"

"Like hell!" Laura shouted, ramming her head into Aiko's. "I'm the strongest, not you!"

"Just wait until I'm older," Aiko promised with a feral grin, "I'll kick your ass!"

"You two!" The argument stopped as suddenly Mira spoke. Even the slightest anger in her pleasant voice made people stop in fear. "You're in trouble, all of you! Now, if I remember, I've got a lot of washing up to do. No wait, I don't think I'm doing it anymore!"

**===][===**

Back at the guild, the three girls were doing the washing up in silence, passing things in a line as they worked.

"I'm sorry, alright?" Laura snapped in the worst apology ever.

"I don't mind getting hurt," Bea responded.

"Me neither! That was fun!" Aiko smiled. "I can't wait until I can take on bigger quests! I'm gonna grow up big and strong, just you see!"

Laura and Bea exchanged a malicious grin.

"Little and strong, maybe!" Bea said.

"Really little and really strong!" Laura said with a laugh.

Aiko growled softly, embarrassed. _Damn it, Mum!_


	15. The New Guild

**===Chapter 15===**

**The New Guild **

**Gajeel is 35, Levy is 32, Tacks is 12 and Aiko is 10**

It was raining heavily. Even the weather knew that today was the saddest of days. Fairy Tail's members stood in a graveyard, dressed in black. Levy was crying profusely as Tacks tried to console her. Aiko was unusually subdued and calm, clutching Lily's hand tightly.

Lucy was crying too, her jaw trembling with emotion. Jet, Droy, Lisanna, Elfman…everyone. More than that. Jura, Lyon, Ichiya, Bob, Goldmine, people from many guilds and none. Then they came. Natsu, Gajeel, Gray and Erza, four people of roughly equal height carrying the distressingly small coffin. Laxus waited near the head of the ceremony for the interment of his grandfather.

Guildmaster Makarov Dreyar had finally passed away as a happy old man at the age of 102.

So many people gave speeches that day, remembering the old man who had touched so many lives, taken so many orphans and given them a home. Levy remembered losing her parents when she was young, of how hopeless the world had seemed, until the kind old man had given her a life again. Next to her now, Gajeel knew that he had literally saved his life. Makarov's offer had granted him everything that he now held dear in life.

"I know that everyone here is sad," Laxus said at last, "and rightly so. Gramps was a great man and the world is worse for his passing. But, he lived a good life for over a century, surrounded by friends and family who adored him completely. Remember, there is no greater life to be lived! We are his children, each and every one. We are his legacy to the world, to live on in his place."

Laxus thrust his hand into the air, finger pointed skyward. "Fairy Tail!"

"Fairy Tail!" The congregation roared, every single member mirroring the posture. As if by magic, the rain abated, sunlight reaching to the ground.

**===][===**

Laxus sighed deeply, sitting in Makarov's office. There was so much paperwork. So many letters of sympathy in addition to the usual guild business. And right now, he was reading the old man's will.

"Laxus honey?" Mira asked kindly as she stepped into the office. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," he said softly. "He wouldn't want me to be sad. I meant what I said. The old bastard made it past a hundred years of age while surrounded by nakama. Is there a better way to die?"

"Perhaps not, but it's okay to be sad," she replied, sitting on the arm of his chair. "Are you thinking about the next guild master?"

"Yeah. Has Gildartz gone out with Erza yet?" Mira confirmed that he had. The coffin earlier was empty, a place to grieve. Makarov's body was to be interred on Tenroujima, next to Mavis. Gildartz and Erza had gone as honour guard, since they were the highest ranking members…those without motion sickness, anyway.

"I suppose he'll be next."

"No. Apparently he and Gramps talked about it before he died. Gildartz is getting on in years himself. They want a new, fresh face to lead the guild."

"Do they say who?"

"Yes. And damned if I'm gonna ignore Gramp's last order."

**===][===**

It was about a week later that the guild assembled on the main floor, looking up as Laxus appeared on the balcony above.

"Listen up! Before he passed, Gramps left behind his pick to be the seventh guild master! Remember, the guild master is not chosen for pure physical strength. They must be level-headed and wise. They must be loved by the guild and love them in return. So, with that in mind, I agree with the choice. So, as Gramps' proxy, I hereby nominate the seventh guild master of Fairy Tail: Lucy Dragneel!"

There was a moment of silence as the impart of the end of the sentence settled over the crowd.

"WHAT!?" Lucy shrieked. "What about you? Or Erza? Or Natsu?"

"I just told you," Laxus replied simply, making a crooked smile. "We have plenty of muscles and hearts, but a guild master must also be a brain. Gramps wanted someone who had a relatively low damage bill."

"It's brilliant!" Natsu shouted, hugging his wife as Ignale and Nashi surrounded them.

"Gihihi! I called it!" Gajeel crowed as the guild started to applaud.

"Maybe she'll increase the library funding!" Levy sang happily, watching her best friend thrown into the air by a raucous crowd.

"Now," Laxus shouted over the crowd, "I believe that means we have two things to drink to! To Gramps! To the new Guild Master! Oh, and of course, Fairy Tail!" The words drowned in the uproar from the guild and alcohol began to flow. Though she was growing a bit hazy due to the alcohol, Levy couldn't help but notice that the children had gathered together and looked a little quiet. She would have to remember to ask about that later. She hoped they weren't too upset about Makarov.

**===][===**

A few days later, Levy was called to the master's office. She felt absolutely bizarre, like she was going to the principal's office, but it was Lu-chan for crying out loud! She opened the door to find her old friend working behind the desk furiously. She noted how much older Lucy seemed these days, and not in a bad way. Just so much more mature and dependable. It must be nice having a body that actually aged!

"Ah, Levy-chan! How are you?" Lucy said by way of greeting.

"Fine, how are you settling in to the new job?"

"It's a lot easier than it may seem! I know that Makarov was immensely powerful, but most of the job consists of dealing with job requests coming in and the inevitable damage bills that come after!"

"You're as strong as he was," Levy said, waving away the self-deprecation. "Even Gajeel and Natsu together cannot defeat the Celestial King!" It was true. Lucy's ace in the hole was a massive magical drain, but if the situation was dire enough, she was essentially the strongest member of the entire guild now. Well, Levy wouldn't like to see the damage if she tried to compete with Gildartz, but the point stood.

"Don't be silly, Levy-chan! Well, maybe less of the 'chan' these days. We're both in our thirties with kids in the double digits. There's basically two things that I wanted to talk to you about. Um, are you aware of how many missions that Tacks has taken in the last year?" She waved around a dossier that contained the details of Levy's son guild actions.

"I know that he's done a lot of E-rank missions," Levy replied, "and been on a few higher ones with members from the guild. Why?"

"Well, I've been checking records, trying to get settled in, and in the last year, Tacks has undertaken almost two hundred E-rank missions, twenty eight D-rank missions, and five C-rank missions. Almost one mission for every single weekday of the year."

"That's…" Levy's brain whirled at the information. She knew that he'd been a busy little beaver, but hadn't quite twigged just how much work he was putting in. Admittedly, there was a little bit of a cut off in that the B-rank missions were the ones that tended to take several days and require more strength.

"I mean, that's over twice that of anyone else in the entire guild. I mean, don't get me wrong, most of the E-rank missions are things like 'do my washing' or 'walk my dogs', but it's a hell of a lot!"

"Um…I think that Tacks worries about his strength. The poor thing is plenty strong, but he's perhaps like me in that he's not a natural born fighter, not like Aiko or Ignale. I think that he's doing so much work to help himself feel reliable." _Am I such a bad mother for not noticing? Is my child crying out for help?_

"Hmm. Of all of the children, Tacks is the only one to have magic massively divergent from his parents."

"Well, I've been teaching him script magic."

"Really? I've not seen him use it."

"Um…I know that he was trying to use it to augment his existing magic," Levy stammered, feeling a little emotional. _Damn it! Come on, Levy, you know the feeling of being weak to the point of absolute uselessness. How have you not noticed that your child is suffering?_

Lucy didn't appear to notice Levy's turmoil. "Well, as long as he's okay. I just don't want him pushing himself too hard. The next few years up through the teens is when a person's magical power increases exponentially. I don't doubt that he'll be a solid guild member by then. His skill in fire magic is far greater than Romeo's was at the same age…and the less said about Macao the better!"

Levy giggled slightly. "Um, you said there were two things? Has Gajeel destroyed something?"

"Heh. No, Gajeel's damage bill is massively down compared to what it used to be. You've clearly been a good influence on him. I hate to say it, but Natsu's is as high as ever. Anyway, what I wanted to talk about was you."

"Me?"

"Yes. Now, I know that Gajeel has been making plans for his future, in case he ever wants to move on from Fairy Tail. Dammit Levy, but it makes my heart smile to think that this man has gone from Phantom Lord's attack dog to doing jobs for the council. But what I'm wondering is; have you made any plans?"

Levy was a little startled. Plans to move on from Fairy Tail? "Um…well…I…"

"In the last year, you have only done three missions," Lucy said with a small grin. "If it wasn't for Nab hogging the role, you'd be the least active guild member! Now, now, that's not a criticism. You're a mum now, and I'm sure that Gajeel's probably happiest as the sole breadwinner, am I right?"

"He is a bit of an alpha male," Levy conceded. _If with something of a soft, cuddly centre!_

"Didn't you once tell me that you had a dream to be an editor?" Lucy asked leaning back in her chair. "Have you given that any more consideration?"

"Are you…kicking me out of the guild?" Levy asked with a wry smile.

"Of course not, Levy-chan! I've been having this conversation with a lot of people. Natsu, he'll be in the guild forever. He is Fairy Tail. I'm fairly sure that Erza will eventually settle down somewhere quiet, to be alone with Gerard. Gray, Juvia, Elfman, Cana – they've all got their own dreams. I want to do everything that I can to help them with that."

"I don't really see what this has to do with me."

"Ugh. I hate talking so formally, Levy-chan. It too ten years of legal mumbo-jumbo, but I have finally inherited my father's wealth. I've put every penny of that into Fairy Tail's coffers. I want to use that to help you. I plan to make extensions to Fairy Tail's estate. The first thing that I want to do is add an extension to the library area for more extensive record keeping capabilities. I want to put you in charge of that."

"What!?" Levy squealed.

"I am hereby giving you responsibility and ownership of every book that enters Fairy Tail's doors. In addition to that, I need an advisor, a right-hand woman so to speak, to help me with all of my paperwork. On top of that, Fairy Tail will start publishing a monthly magazine. Basically, it's a sorcerer's weekly focusing on the guild. I'm sure that you'll need a couple of reporters. Someone happy to spend large amounts of time in the guild, probably stuffing his face, and another able to get to the scene of important incidents quickly. Any ideas?"

"Lu-chan…," Levy whispered.

"How does that sound, Levy-chan?" Lucy asked with a fierce smile. "Not ready to give up on Fairy Tail yet?"

"B-but," Levy stammered, floundering around for some kind of loophole. This was too much, it didn't make any sense! "But I'm so insignificant! You're going to make me an important part of the guild, but it's the dragon-slayers, the Raijinshuu, Erza, Gray, Gildartz, they're the guild's important people!"

"Levy-chan! Remember what Laxus said? I have all of the strong people in the world. I've been your friend for over a decade now and I know that you view yourself as useless because you're not strong. But it is precisely that which makes you valuable. Your intelligence and way with language is unparalleled in the guild. There is no one else that I can turn to. What do you say?"

What else could she possibly say to that?

**===][===**

"They feel it too, Salamander. The guild is changing. They're growing up." Gajeel and Natsu were standing on the edge of a quarry, watching a battle royale going on. Down there, eight children were pushing themselves hard, feeling the weight of responsibility fall upon them.

"**Water-make: Ice bullet!**" Generating a field of water before her, Karren sent little wads of it surging forward, hardening them into icy projectiles.

"**Cloak of the Starry Night!**" Waving around her, Nashi made a blanket of darkness and stars that shielded her from the attack.

"**Vermillion Bolt!**" Hand held high, Laura was struck by her own lightning, the magic crashing forwards through the ground, tearing it apart as Gabriel surged forward. Exquipping his sword to a wooden pole, he pressed in, using it to insulate him.

"**Roar of the Iron Dragon!**" Aiko's cyclone missed as Bea shifted into her fairy form and took to the sky. Raging at the unfairness of flying, Aiko ran forward, extending her fist into an iron club to bat at her.

"**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**" Ignale's attack struck Tacks, who used his forearm to guard against it and was pushed back. He began to summon fire into his hand.

"Oi!" Natsu said urgently. "He can't use fire against my son!"

"Gihi! Just you watch, Salamander! My boy, he's been training hard!"

With the script seal written on his glove, Tacks began to manipulate the orange flame in his palm, darkening into an ebon flame. "**Black Fire: Banishing Flat!**" Wreathing his fist with it, Tacks punched Ignale, knocking him away. He could see the shock on the boy's face as he realised the property of the flame was beyond him.

"God Slayer flame!?" Natsu gawked.

"Nope. Not so grand, but the same kind of property. Just you watch, Salamander. My kids are gonna be way stronger than yours!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaah, I'm all fired up! I can't let them have all of the fun!" With a laugh, the two slayers jumped to the quarry floor, dragging the attention of the eight children. "Come on! You guys wanna spar, then hit us with everything you've got! Show us that Fair Tail's in good hands!"

"You heard him!" Tacks shouted, and the eight children rushed forward with a passionate roar. Natsu and Gajeel ran forward to meet it head on. The old generation wasn't ready to pass away quietly just yet, but the clock was ticking on. People came, people went. Mavis. Purehito. Macao. GIldartz. Makarov. Lucy. Only Fairy Tail was eternal.


	16. Public Service Announcement

**Author's Note**

**Important, please read**

Obviously, I've been rather bad at updating this story in recent history. It's because I've hit a wall with where I think that I can take it. The last chapter gives a nice feel of Levy and Gajeel are settled and the new generation has come. Anything more is filler, really.

What I have written is a big end piece, right at the end of their lives. It's quite a tearjerker (if I do say so myself) and I really want to post it. So I'm ending this tale. Tomorrow I will post the final chapter, about fifty years in the future. If I have further ideas, I may write chapters out of chronological order. But otherwise, I'm done.

I plan to write more GaLe however, so keep a lookout.

I'm sorry to those that I've disappointed with this, but I hope you'll find the last chapter moving.


	17. The End

**===Final Chapter===**

**The End**

**Gajeel is 90, Levy is 87, Tacks is 67 and Aiko is 65**

The years had flown by, Gajeel thought as he stared out of the window. Even at his venerable age he could pass for a man in his late thirties, even if his hair was now shimmering silver and he had a few lines here and there. The curse of dragon slaying magic was incredible longevity, ending in either a brutal death or dragonhood.

It'd been about twenty years since Lily had left to make a family with the Exceed colony. He'd seen him a couple of times since, and last he'd heard his old partner had a kid on the way. He might be long-lived, but he had nothing on the cat-people, who reached ages of three hundred or more. Happy and Charla had a couple of their own kittens.

He'd seen most of his guild pass away. That hurt. It hurt a lot. Most of them had aged seven years on him, after all. Natsu and Wendy were similarly afflicted, but the second and fourth generation slayers weren't. Hopefully, his precious daughter could die a reasonable death, instead of living in this hellish limbo.

"Gajeel," called a thin voice. He screwed his eyes tightly shut for a moment before going to see her.

The worst thing in the world was watching Levy die. She had no specific ailment that any doctor had identified, but she was weakening noticeably with every passing week. She could no longer walk and Gajeel took great care when touching her not to hurt her.

He entered the bedroom, where she stayed almost permanently now. She was so thin and frail these days, but Gajeel would swear blind to anyone that she was still the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Sit with me, please darling," she croaked.

"Of course," he rumbled, going to sit in the chair at the bedside. It was the most appropriate fate that she had grown so fragile while he so strong. He'd lost none of the power of his youth, and if anything was stronger than he'd ever been. Slowly, year by year he was becoming more and more dragon-like. They'd tried everything in the book, but stopping the transformation was impossible. He entwined his fingers with hers, trying not to hurt her.

"You look sad today," Levy said slowly.

"Don't be like that. You know why."

"Oh come on, Gajeel. Talk to me. I'm bored of lying here."

"I bring you books every day."

"I tire of books." Gajeel clamped his hand over her forehead.

"Nope, don't have a fever," he chuckled. "You must be going insane to say that!"

"I'm not sad. I've lived a long life, filled with happiness and joy. Primarily due to you." She chuckled slightly. "Who would have ever thought it, eh?"

"That was a lifetime ago," Gajeel agreed. "If I had known what it would have led to, I'd have finished you off there and then. Dates? Marriage? Children? Pah! Clearly I was better off in Phantom Lord."

"Dear Mavis, am I really mother to a sixty seven year old son? I must be getting old."

"Getting? We had two good kids, didn't we?" Gajeel said fondly. "Well, it took a bit longer for the second one…"

"Oi! Aiko is no different than you! A wild child with no social grace, but a caring and passionate nakama."

"Hey, I have social grace!"

"Now. It took you about five decades." Levy smiled, a shadow of her youthful self. "Remember when she brought that boyfriend around for dinner? You nearly bit his head off!"

"He wasn't good enough for her!"

"He was a doctor!"

"He wasn't tall enough! My little girl needed someone tall, like me for you! You know Tack's wife? She was a shorty too!"

"Nashi is not short!"

"Not from your point of view." Gajeel chuckled. "But then again, Aiko did have that growth spurt, didn't she?"

"She clearly did that to piss me off. No man stood a chance of being tall enough for your standards! She was Erza's height!"

"Elfman was tall enough," Gajeel moped. "She could have done better than that guy."

"'That guy' was one of your understudies from the council! Lamian was a council member and strong! I don't know what you wanted from him."

"About three more inches."

"Of course, then they all had kids, didn't they?" Levy frowned, her cognitive faculties failing her. "There was Adam and…er…"

"Adam, Reiko, Mamoru and Eleanor. Our four grandkids," Gajeel said gently, reminding her. "Then they went on to give us seven great-grandkids. Do you remember that the eldest gave birth a little while ago to a little girl? You're a great-great-grandmother."

"I remember. What did they call her again?"

"Levy," Gajeel said with a hollow smile. "She's a beautiful little bundle of blue-haired joy with a perfect smile. What else could they call her?"

"You old charmer you. You've called me Levy less times in the last seventy years than I have fingers." To Gajeel's surprise, Levy began to tear up. "Was I a good wife? I've always been small and weak."

"You are the best thing that had ever happened to me. Don't ever think anything stupid." Gajeel practically choked on the words. "You gave me the best life I could have ever asked for, and rescued me from a life of petty violence. I love you more than life itself."

"I'm old, Gajeel. I'm allowed to be stupid from time to time."

"You're old? You look just like my little Shrimp to me!"

"I'm going to die soon."

"I know."

"I'm sorry that I can't be with you," Levy wept. "I'm sorry that I don't have your strength to carry on."

"That's alright, Shrimp," Gajeel said, tears falling down his face. "I promise that I'll see you someday."

"Please don't be alone."

"I have plans. Don't worry about me."

"I have nothing else left to worry about."

**===][===**

Levy passed away three days later. Gajeel's cries of anguish could be heard around most of Magnolia. He was heartbroken, shattered. The girl might have been weak, but she was his strength. Without her, he was nothing.

Almost as if she had been timing it, Lucy Dragneel passed away two days after. Both women had been friends for as long as they could remember. They held the funerals together, as only seemed appropriate.

"Hey dad," Tacks said sombrely as they met in the graveyard. Gajeel noticed Nashi going to embrace her father. He was so glad the two childhood sweethearts had gotten married, even if it did mean a relationship to Natsu.

"Tch, stop losing your hair. You're making me feel old," Gajeel groused, happy to see his son again.

"I'm sixty-seven, Dad. I'm pretty goddamn old, and you're the guy who made me."

"I didn't make a sixty seven year old. I made this cute baby who pooped his diapers and kept sticking his hand in the fireplace."

"I did not!" Tacks objected, horrified.

"You bloody well did. I can't believe that my son was such a fucking pyromaniac."

"Blame uncle Natsu."

"I do! Gihi!"

"How are you holding up?" Tacks asked, becoming serious again.

"I'm fine. Well, I'm a fucking wreck, but what can I say? Your mother lived for a long time."

"Daddy!" Gajeel was startled as his 'little girl' threw herself at him out of nowhere. Not so little anymore! She was an adult of more than sixty as well, her ebon hair running to grey just like his. She had a nose piecing and four hoops in her ears. Never quite the punk her father was, but pretty close. He rubbed the top of her head with affection. "How are you?"

"I'm sorry that I couldn't be here sooner!" Aiko wailed, tears running freely. "There was traffic and-"

"Oi, you're a dragon slayer," Gajeel grinned. "I taught you to be tougher than that!"

"Yes sir!" Aiko snapped, practically saluting. He smiled at his grey-haired daughter. Lord, was he really this old? Where did the time go? Aiko frowned again, tears glistening. "I'd meant to visit before she died. I didn't want her to think that I didn't love her."

Gajeel placed his hands on her shoulders. "Your mum loved you and knew that you loved her. She was happy that you kids were going on with your lives; we old fuddy-duddies don't want you slowing down for our pace."

"Your pace? I bet you could give us both a good hiding!" Aiko said with a fragile smile.

"And don't you forget it! Gihi!" Gajeel leant back, looking into the sky.

"Dad?"

"I'd hoped that Lily would come…but no, it's fine; he has a new life to lead. Come on kids, let's get this blasted funeral out of the way. Salamander's family will be in the same position as us, remember. It's not just about our feelings."

"Nashi's okay," Tacks said. "It's not a happy day, but we're lucky those two lived as long as they did. Not all sixty year olds get to have parents."

"Yes," Gajeel mumbled. "I've had my fair time."

**===][===**

It was a lovely ceremony, Gajeel supposed. There was a lot of the current generation of Fairies around. He recognized a few of them, but jeez, he was out of touch these days. It made sense that they were here though, Lucy had been a Guildmaster. It might have overshadowed Levy a bit, but she'd have been fine with that. She would have loved to be hand in hand with Lucy right now, letting her take the limelight.

Would have, but she was dead.

Gajeel started crying at some point and didn't stop, shamelessly baring his soul for any to see. He was supposed to give a eulogy, but he wept throughout, unable to make much sense. He wanted to talk about her beautiful smile, her kindness, how she'd saved his soul. Perhaps his tears said more; he was never good with words anyway.

Not like her.

He saw the faces of his and Natsu's kids. They all knew that they weren't just losing their mother today; they were also losing their father. A huge procession ensued as the two coffins were carried down to the docks. There waited a small boat, covered heavily in runes that would cancel out motion sickness on any passengers.

Natsu and Gajeel double checked the cargo hold (barely a space beneath the deck) to make sure that they were safetly ensconced. They were to be buried on Tenroujima, along with Mavis, Makarov, Macao and Gildartz, the other Guildmasters that had gone before her. And with their odd situation, Levy was going to be an exception, because Gajeel had to go, and no way was he going without her.

"Dad!" Nashi embraced with her father. "Please be safe."

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Natsu reassured her.

"You have no experience with steering a vehicle," Ignale said with a pointed jab, the splitting image of his father. Natsu grinned and hugged him too.

"I'll miss you too, boy!"

"Do you have to go?" Tacks asked his father.

"They say the greatest shame is burying your child. I have no desire to outlive my kids and grandkids because of some stupid slaying magic. Levy and Lucy are gone, and you are all grown up. This is our time to go."

"I'll miss you."

"Nah, you never visited anyway," Gajeel replied with his trademark smirk. "Our time is over. It doesn't wait around, so you two promise to look after yourselves, yeah?"

"Of course!" Aiko jumped in to hug him again, never able to hide her emotions, just like her mum. With his other arm, Gajeel drew Tacks in as well.

"I love you two so much. Thank you for being my kids," he said, choking on the words. Everyone was crying now. It took a while, but finally, Natsu and Gajeel set off, rowing out of the harbour. The assembled crowd called after them until they were over the horizon.

"He was the best dad ever," Tacks mourned. "She was the best mum."

"They knew that, right?" Aiko asked nervously.

"I sure hope so."

**===][===**

"Oi Gajeel! You're not keeping pace!" Natsu argued. They sat on either side of the boat, each with one oar.

"You're going too fast, Salamander! Or have you forgotten that our job is to get there in one piece?" Gajeel yelled back, enjoying the distraction from the endless blue ocean in all directions.

"They were right; we are bad with vehicles," Natsu sighed. He frowned. "What about Wendy?"

"She's still got her loved ones. She's welcome to come whenever she's ready." They rowed on in silence for a while, enjoying the quiet and the clear sky.

"They were great, weren't they?" Natsu asked, clearly referring to their wives.

"They were the best," Gajeel agreed.

"Though I've never understood what they got from reading."

"Really? Levy taught me to love it. Still not as good as a punch-up, of course!"

"You having more symptoms of the transformation?" Natsu asked, changing the subject.

"I've got more scales now. I kept them hidden; I didn't want to worry her." Natsu nodded at the words, pulling back a sleeve to show crimson scales down his forearm.

"Jeez, I wish Igneel would have mentioned this at some point," Natsu groused. "Just a friendly, 'hey you'll turn into a dragon someday' would have been nice."

"He may not have known."

"Maybe. Well, it's all over anyway, isn't it? We've had our lives. It's time for us to pass into legend and let the new generation take over. The only thing that matters now is getting these two where they deserve to be."

**===][===**

"This is bad!" Natsu cried out, "I can't see anything!"

It was pitch black now, and waves crashed heavily against their small ship. With the sky covered by a thick blanket of clouds, they had no way to navigate. They were sailing blind and there was a real danger that they'd capsize.

"We're not losing them!" Gajeel barked. "If we have to, we'll swim the rest of the way with them tied to our backs!"

"Agreed!"

It went on and on, with the two slayers holding the vessel as steady as possible. Both were beginning to lose hope, but if there was enough willpower on board that ship to power a city. Only death would stop them.

"Gajeel! What's that?" Natsu shouted over the sea. Gajeel snapped up to see several lights floating in the sky, beckoning them on. With no other point of reference, they began to head towards the lights. At last, they were close enough for their slayer senses to make out.

"Well, I'll be…" Gajeel stammered, unbelieving. "I thought they'd forgotten."

It was the Exceeds. Two families of the winged cats were holding the little glowing lights, leading them on. He could see the shapes of Happy, Charla and Lily, along with a few other adult and infant Exceeds.

"Sorry that we're late!" Happy cried as he pulled near the boat. "It took a while to convince everyone to relocate!"

"What?" Natsu shouted to be heard.

"We brought the family!" Lily replied with a grin. "You think that we'd just leave you two on that island by yourselves? We're partners aren't we?"

"I've missed you!" Gajeel yelled, definitely not crying at all. It was raining in a turbulent ocean; of course his face was wet. No manly tears at all.

"Then follow! Tenroujima is just over the horizon! When we get there, I'll introduce the wife and kids!"

**===300 years later===**

Tenroujima was a place of legend. A full thirteen masters of the guild had been buried here now. It was only one of two places in the entire world where Exceeds could be found. It was common for descendant slayers to come here and seek out a cat for their own.

They also sought out the three legendary dragons, a trio of beasts that acted as guardians to the land. No dark guild had managed to make it any further than the beach before utter destruction. The fabled fire, iron and sky dragons were ferocious in their defence of this place.

And Perhaps Gajeel and Natsu spent a lot of their waking time fighting each other, but what else in new in Fairy Tail? The three dragons had passed into the guild's legends, which is where they wanted to be. The world was for the youngsters, not them.

"Gajeel! Gajeel! Wake up! I'm bored!" Gajeel grunted at the voice, shifting his elephantine mass but not rousing. He was a black dragon of course, covered in onyx feathers.

"I'm a dragon. We sleep a lot," he snorted.

"Baka! Pay attention to me!"

Gajeel opened his eyes slowly to look at the spirit perching on his snout. It was the oddest twist of fate. It wasn't just Mavis who returned from beyond the grave; anyone buried here appeared to have that ability. The magic of Fairy Tail and Tenroujima.

She looked like her seventeen year old self, so beautiful it made his heart ache like he was a love struck teenager again. Blue hair was tied back by a golden halo of a ribbon, and she was clad in white robes.

"Have I told you how pretty you look recently?" He asked.

"You've been asleep for a decade now," Levy giggled. She puffed out her cheeks. "Everyone's waiting for you three, you know that, right? Lu-chan's really pissed off with Natsu."

"It's not our fault," Gajeel rumbled, his draconic voice reverberating through the ground. "We didn't plan to become dragons. They can live for a very long time."

"But it's so peaceful in the beyond! Everyone's there! Master and Lu-chan and Erza and Mira and…"

"I get it, Shorty. I'm so glad that you're happy."

"I'm certainly happy…_my little Gaj-bucket!_" She giggled.

"How did you know they called me that?" Gajeel snorted, lifting his head and her with it. "You've met my parents?"

"Tacks and Aiko are there too. It's quite rude to outlive your kids by almost three centuries! You even managed to outlive Lily!"

"I'll be there someday. I promise."

"Well, there's no hurry, I suppose. It's not like we're going anywhere!" She patted his nose. "I'm worried about you; are you alright?"

"Shrimp, I get to fight Salamander, spend all day lying around in the sunshine and when I wake up I get to see your beautiful smile. Tell me; what more does heaven have?"


End file.
